The Legislative Yuan yesterday handed independent legislator Lo Fu-chu (
The decision was made by a vote of 155 to three, with two abstentions, upholding a recommendation issued by the legislature's Discipline Committee on April 3.
The Alliance of Independent Lawmakers caucus, of which Lo is a member, raised a proposal to cut the suspension to three months, but this was rejected.
Lo's suspension marks the first time the legislature has taken disciplinary action against a legislator -- in stark contrast to the roughly 20 cases of misconduct involving legislators that have been left unresolved since 1987.
"We hope the way we handled this case will bring about a change. In other words, the legislature can take this opportunity to turn over a new leaf so that such violence will never be seen again," said speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
The incident erupted shortly before a meeting of the Education and Culture Committee on March 28. Lee was subsequently hospitalized for three days as a result of minor injuries and a slight concussion.
"I hope that violence will cease here and the legislature will become a rational place. Lawmakers should be free from fear while exercising their duties," Lee said.
Lo did not show up at the legislature yesterday, as had been expected. He instead released a statement through his caucus saying that he would accept whatever punishment was given to him.
"Throughout my political career, I've never taken advantage of my position to gain personal interest. No matter whether the suspension is three months or six months, my service to my constituents won't be affected," Lo said.
Immediately after the violent episode, Lo offered to suspend his participation in the legislature for three months as a self-punishment to "set an example."
But the Discipline Committee decided to ignore Lo's offer and instead recommended the harshest possible punishment as DPP legislators cited Lo's past record of assaulting colleagues.
All major caucuses in the legislature, including the KMT, DPP, PFP and New Party, mobilized their members to attend yesterday's meeting to make sure the punishment was passed. At least one third of the total of 219 legislators needed to be present to achieve the quorum for such a meeting. For a proposed punishment to pass, it must be ratified by the legislature by a two-thirds majority.
Four attending members of the Alliance for Independent Lawmakers, led by Chen Chin-ting (陳進丁), staged a walkout in protest after their request for a secret ballot was turned down, leaving 160 legislators to cast their vote.
The three legislators who voted against the six-month suspension, Lin Ming-i (
The two legislators who abstained, Lin Hong-tsung (
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
RSS