Members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday criticized President William Lai’s (賴清德) plan to seek a ruling from the Constitutional Court on recently passed legislative reforms despite signing them into law.
The KMT caucus called on the court to remain impartial in its ruling after Lai said he would seek a judgement and apply for “a preliminary injunction” from the court to stop the amendments from being implemented before a final ruling is made.
At a news conference in Taipei, KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi urged Lai to “bravely face the legislature and the people,” and appealed to the court to show judicial conscience by not opposing the reforms.
Photo: Fang Ping-chao, Taipei Times
“The Constitutional Court is the guardian of the Constitution, and should not be a watchdog for any political party,” KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said.
As the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) appointed the court’s justices, they are likely to rule in favor of the Lai administration, Lo said.
When the DPP was the opposition party it recognized the need for legislative reform, but it now opposes it, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷) said.
Before a judgement is issued, the government should respect and adhere to the laws passed by the legislature, as in any democracy, Hung said, referring to an earlier statement by Lai that he would deliver a “state of the nation” address to the legislature only after a constitutional ruling.
The TPP also expressed regret over the matter, saying that legislative reform was the expectation of the ruling and opposition parties and Taiwanese.
The reform bills passed by the legislature should be respected and Lai should stand with public opinion, the TPP said in a statement.
During his presidential campaign, Lai said there was an obligation for a president to give a “state of the nation” address, but since his election, he has distorted the reform bills, it said.
The president is unwilling to face legislative oversight and is clinging tightly to his executive power, it added.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Passengers aboard Korean Airlines Flight KE189 arrived in Taichung safely yesterday after a scare the previous day encountering uncontrolled decompression, which injured 13 passengers. Flight KE189 departed from Incheon at 4:45pm on Saturday bound for Taichung with 125 passengers on board. The flight was above Jeju Island when a fault in the pressurization system occurred 50 minutes after takeoff. Online flight tracker Flightradar24’s data show that the plane dropped more than 8,000 meters within 15 minutes, before it returned and landed back at Incheon Airport at 19:38pm. Thirteen passengers on board had a headache or earache due to the incident and were hospitalized. A different
China might seek to isolate Taiwan and weaken its economy through a “quarantine,” which would make it difficult for the US to respond and force Taipei to negotiate on unification, CNN reported on Saturday. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “increasingly bellicose actions” toward Taiwan have heightened concerns that Beijing would use its military against Taiwan, it said, citing a report by think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). However, China might choose to initiate a quarantine, rather than a military invasion of Taiwan, to avoid US involvement, it said. “A quarantine [is] a law enforcement-led operation to control
A new message broadcast on the Taipei MRT’s Wenhu (Brown) Line urging passengers to yield their seats to those in need, not necessarily elderly people, would be extended to other MRT lines and public transportation in the capital, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday. Chiang was responding to reporters’ questions on the sidelines of a news conference at Taipei City Hall promoting healthy walking. Several disputes over priority seats on public transportation have recently been reported, sparking debate about who qualifies to sit in them, as most of the cases involved elderly people asking young people to give up their