The KMT used its majority in the legislature yesterday to push through a ratification of the Cabinet's "operational priorities" -- which detail the implementation of the post-earthquake emergency decree (
Legal scholars, for their part, were quick to remind lawmakers not to forget their own power to make special laws for reconstruction -- laws they say would supersede the extraordinary emergency decree.
Although the emergency decree itself, which was declared by President Lee Teng-hui (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Under mounting pressure from opposition and even some ruling party lawmakers, however, Premier Vincent Siew (
The Cabinet, however, had always wanted the priorities to be "ratified" (
The opposition DPP and New Party had demanded the operational priorities be reviewed article by article, but their motion was defeated in a vote yesterday by a wide margin, 110 to 79.
Both opposition caucuses expressed their regret after the vote.
"It [not to review article by article] is out of line with the nation's constitutional guidelines," Chen Chi-mai (
The KMT caucus meanwhile intends to file its own application to the council -- but for entirely different reasons.
"This was the first time such an emergency decree has been issued [since constitutional reforms in 1991]. We will file an application with the Grand Justices for an interpretation in the hope of establishing a constitutional precedent," said Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), the KMT's caucus leader.
The New Party, on the other hand, expressed skepticism that the Council of Grand Justices could be trusted with the issue.
"I am afraid that the council is also under the control of the KMT," said Elmer Fung (
But the entire issue could be made moot if legislators had the will to proceed with their own course of action, constitutional scholars said.
"A more practical way for lawmakers to deal with the controversy is to pass special laws to replace the emergency decree in regulating the relief and reconstruction process," said Su Yung-chin (
"It isn't necessary to wait for the expiry of the emergency decree six months after issuance. Special laws to the same purpose can take over as soon as they are written. Thus it is a better way to return to the normal rule of law," he said.
Andrew Yen (
"The legislature's power to write laws has not been frozen by the emergency decree," Yen said. "They can write special laws on reconstruction to supersede the decree."
However, the two legal scholars disagreed over the necessity of applying for a constitutional interpretation of the operational priorities.
"I am opposed to the idea of sending the case to the Council of Grand Justices at this moment," Su said. "The controversy here is not something written in the Constitution, thus, it is not a matter of right or wrong.
"This is not yet a mature constitutional controversy, and the Grand Justices shouldn't be treated like legal consultants," he said.
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