Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators proposed a re-election to select a new speaker as the first item on the agenda in a meeting today at the Legislative Yuan, saying that Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu's (韓國瑜) delaying the submission of two bills to President William Lai (賴清德) to promulgate is illegal and unconstitutional.
The DPP is seeking to invoke Article 8 of the Regulations on Electing the Legislative Speaker and Deputy Speaker by Legislators (立法委員互選院長副院長辦法), which states that if more than one-third of legislators propose a re-election and more than two-thirds of legislators agree, a re-election may be initiated.
On Dec. 20, Legislative Yuan passed the third reading of amendments to three acts: the Public Officers Election and Recall Act (公職人員選罷法), the Act Governing Allocations of Government Revenue and Expenditure (財政收支劃分法) and the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法).
Photo: Taipei Times
Although the three bills were passed on the same day, the latter was sent to Lai to promulgate on Dec. 24, while Han delayed the submission of the other two bills at the written request of two Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) committee convenors of the Internal Administration Committee, Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), and the Finance Committee’s Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍), dated Dec. 27, the DPP said.
Han’s actions as speaker are illegal and unconstitutional, and whether the proposal succeeds or not, it reflects the DPP’s standpoint and fundamental principles — if they do not call for his dismissal now, the DPP may as well shut up shop, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said.
DPP legislators Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) and Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) arrived at the Legislative Yuan in the middle of the night to submit the proposal for today’s meeting.
Allowing individual committee convenors to override the Constitution and legislative procedure to dictate whether a bill should be transmitted contravenes the constitution and disrupts government operations, they said.
These actions contravene Article 72 of the Constitution, which states that “statutory bills passed by the Legislative Yuan shall be transmitted to the president of the republic and to the Executive Yuan,” the DPP added.
Han has openly aligned with the KMT by delaying the submission of the two acts until the Constitutional Court act was transmitted to the president, an act of political manipulation that contravenes Article 3 of the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法), which states that a speaker shall maintain order in the legislature based on the principle of neutrality and fairness, the DPP said.
The KMT also twice occupied the speaker’s podium, conducted votes by show of hands and engaged in physical altercations to push through the third reading of the Constitutional Court reform bill, using their control of proceedings to “sell out to China,” Ker said.
Whether the KMT was purposefully stirring up trouble or facing an unknown predicament, today’s proposal is to be recorded in the Legislative Yuan Gazette and officials including Hsu, Chen and Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Chester Chou (周萬來) are to be referred to the Control Yuan for impeachment, and legal action is to be taken, Ker said.
The KMT today said the DPP’s action is tantamount to spilling the “coffee of reconciliation” on Lai, who invited Han for a coffee before he leads the official Taiwan delegation to US president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month.
The DPP has no intention of reconciling but to initiate power struggles, it said, adding that Lai is not able to control the DPP caucus.
The KMT also accused the DPP of using the democratic system as a tool to attack the opposition, asking “is this what Lai means by greater democracy?”
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu, Lee Wen-hsin, Shih Hsiao-kuang and Fion Khan
‘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