President William Lai (賴清德) is to promulgate controversial laws passed by the Legislative Yuan last week, Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said yesterday.
The legislature approved amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法), the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) on Friday last week.
Some have suggested that Lai could refuse to promulgate the laws, or that Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) could refuse to countersign them, but Pan confirmed that both men would uphold the Constitution.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Asked what the president meant when he said “democratic disputes should be resolved with even greater democracy,” Pan said that Lai did not imply he would organize a referendum.
Instead, the government would consider all its options, such as the Cabinet requesting the legislature reconsider the amendments or petitioning the Constitutional Court to rule on their constitutionality, he said, adding that refusing to promulgate the bills is not an option.
The Executive Yuan has so far only received the amendments to the Constitutional Court Act, Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said.
Once all three are received, the Cabinet would exercise its power to consider relief measures prior to the deadline on Thursday next week for the laws to be promulgated, Lee said.
The laws severely impact the administration’s ability to govern, including subsequent budgets and salary increases, and there is a high likelihood of the Cabinet filing an objection, she added.
The amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures would result in a NT$375.3 billion (US$11.48 billion) reduction of the central government’s budget, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said.
The allocation of government revenue could reduce the defense budget by up to 28 percent, equivalent to about NT$80 billion, the Ministry of National Defense said on Wednesday.
The ministry crafted a budget based on its duty to safeguard the country and its operational needs, Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) said yesterday.
If the proposed budget is not fully funded, it could affect the ministry’s plans to raise salaries for personnel, as well as other necessary projects such as Taiwan’s domestic submarine, Hsu said.
The budget cuts would have a “clear” impact on Taiwan’s diplomacy, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said.
A 28 percent reduction for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be NT$6.5 billion, affecting the ministry’s exchanges with international organizations and allies, including embassy operations, Lin said.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the party would “exhaust” all its constitutional options in opposing the new bills, including requesting the Constitutional Court to provide an interpretation.
Additional reporting by CNA and Reuters
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS