The Legislative Yuan's Discipline Committee yesterday recommended that independent legislator Lo Fu-chu (
The punishment will need to be approved in the legislature by a two-thirds majority next Tuesday at the earliest.
The punishment is the heaviest possible under the Legislators' Conduct Act (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"This incident marks a very important turning point in which the Legislative Yuan has set an example [for handling misconduct involving legislators] that will be helpful in preventing similar matters from happening again in the future. This will also allow the legislature to inspire faith that it is capable of handling its internal affairs," said KMT Legislator Chu Li-luan (
The violent incident occurred on March 28, shortly before a meeting of the Education and Culture Committee, following a fierce quarrel between Lo and Lee. The entire course of events was filmed by a video camera installed in the meeting room and immediately generated extensive media coverage.
Facing great public pressure, the legislature referred the case to the Discipline Committee on March 30 as soon as was possible, despite Lo's decision to stop participating in the legislature's activities for three months as a self-imposed punishment.
The ad hoc Discipline Committee, whose members are the 36 conveners of the 12 standing committees in the legislature, was under close scrutiny from the media when it met to discuss the case yesterday.
The KMT caucus, which is known to have maintained close links with Lo and controls 18 of the 36 seats in the Discipline Committee, took a tough stand and ordered all its members to attend the meeting to ensure that a quorum of one-third of members was present.
All members were present, except for Lo himself, who is a convener of the Judiciary Committee, and three KMT legislators. These three were Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才), Lo's son and a convener of the Finance Committee; Tseng Tsai Mei-tso (曾蔡美佐), a convener of the Economic and Energy Committee, who was abroad; and Chou Wu-liu (周五六), another convener of the Economic and Energy Committee, who preferred not to attend.
The attending Discipline Committee members adopted the punishment unanimously after around two hours of discussion, during which many members from the DPP cited Lo's past record of assaulting colleagues.
"This record should be a reference for the committee to issue a punishment to Lo, who is a serial offender and deserves the severest punishment," said DPP Legislator Chien Hsi-chieh, a convener of the Finance Committee, who has alleged that he has been one of the victims.
The DPP legislators considered yesterday's decision a necessary step to stop legislators being threatened in the exercise of their duties by colleagues with gangster backgrounds or connections.
The DPP has said that around a dozen of its lawmakers have been assaulted by legislators with connections to gangsters, many of which have not taken place on public occasions. The DPP says that at least five have been carried out by Lo -- who has denied any connection with organized crime but is known to be closely linked to the Tien Tau Meng (
"The legislature has become a hotbed for gangsters to gain legal protection for their violent acts. In the past, many of our colleagues were attacked because their speeches were in conflict with the interests [of the gangster-connected legislators]," said DPP Legislator Yen Ching-fu (
"More gangsters will make their way into the legislature unless the Discipline Committee performs its function," warned Yen, who has been assaulted and threatened by two different legislators with connections to organized crime.
PATROL PARTNERS: The ‘Chiayi’ and the ‘Penghu’ departed for a two-day joint patrol of Palau’s exclusive economic zone, the CGA’s second diplomatic visit to the country The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) set a record for its southernmost deployment of a coast guard vessel as the vessels Chiayi and the Penghu reached Palau’s Pulo Anna Island on Saturday in a cooperative exercise between the two countries. The island, about 217 nautical miles (401km) southwest of Koror in the Palauan state of Sonsorol and 1,220 nautical miles from Taiwan’s southernmost point, Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), is the furthest south a CGA vessel has sailed. The two vessels are in Palau for the coast guard’s second diplomatic visit to the country. They docked at Malakal Harbor on Tuesday last week. The coast guard
The government is monitoring online rumors that a pneumonic plague outbreak has spread from Russia into China, and it might enhance quarantine measures, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During a legislative meeting, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that rumors had circulated that the disease had spread across several Chinese provinces. He asked Cho whether the government was prepared to prevent the disease spreading to Taiwan, given the volume of traffic between the two sides, and how concerned the government was about the alleged outbreak. The Ministry of Health and Welfare had implemented border quarantine measures after briefing the Executive
EAST OF GUAM: Tropical Storm Champi is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon, but its effect on Taiwan is uncertain due to the presence of a high-pressure system Tropical Storm Champi formed yesterday and has the potential to increase in strength, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Forecasters are closely monitoring a Pacific high-pressure system that would dictate whether the storm turns north or moves toward Taiwan next week, the CWA said. The most likely scenario is that it turns northward after passing the Ryukyu Islands, CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said. As of 8pm yesterday, Champi was east of Guam moving west-northwest at 20kph, CWA data showed. It had maximum sustained winds near the center of 72kph and gusts of up to 101kph, the data showed. If the Pacific high-pressure system
BATCH 1: The military has plans to assign the weapons to the army to defend Taiwan proper, as well as outlying islands and the navy for the Marine Corps, the official said Taiwan is to receive 500 Stinger missiles and 178 launchers from the US by the end of the year, the first batch under a planned two-stage acquisition totaling 2,621 missiles and 763 launchers, a defense official said yesterday on condition of anonymity. The portable missiles would play a vital role in the nation’s air defense capabilities, the source said. The army plans to deploy 2,235 missiles and 657 launchers to defend Taiwan proper and outlying islands, they said, citing military documents. The navy is allotted 295 missiles and 85 launchers to arm the Marine Corps and some surface vessels that lack air defense
RSS