The Legislative Yuan yesterday entered into its agenda the Executive Yuan’s request for lawmakers to reconsider the controversial legislative reform bills it passed two weeks ago.
The request concerned amendments to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) and the Criminal Code.
If they become law, the bills would grant the Legislative Yuan — which is currently controlled by opposition parties — broad investigative powers and the authority to hold officials in contempt.
Photo: Wang Teng-yi, Taipei Times
President William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday signed the Executive Yuan’s request for reconsideration, citing concerns that the proposed laws might contravene the Constitution.
The legislature’s Procedure Committee unanimously passed a motion to include the request on its agenda to be published tomorrow.
The method and schedule for deliberating the request would to be determined during interparty negotiations to be conducted at a later date, the committee said.
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) issued a notice to the party caucuses that negotiations on handling the Executive Yuan’s request would be held at 9am today.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) said the party wished to discuss and vote on the request on Tuesday next week, adding that Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) should explain what the Cabinet found difficult about the bills.
Cho filing the request so soon after being sworn into office was a “hostile act” and a challenge to the legislature’s autonomy, which the KMT found to be regrettable, Fu said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the party supports dealing with the matter in a fully transparent manner and in compliance with legislative regulations.
The DPP hopes the legislature withdraws the bills so it has no reason to obstruct the proceedings, he said, adding that the opposition should calm down and process the Executive Yuan’s publicly stated reasons for the request.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that the 9pm delivery of the request for reconsideration was timed to impede the Legislative Yuan.
The Executive Yuan’s reasons for rejecting the bills were “the same as the fake news spread before by the DPP,” Huang said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS