Leaders of opposition legislative caucuses agreed yesterday to a special legislative session being held to review financial bills seen as key to the nation's financial reform.
The legislation, which has been proposed by the Cabinet, failed to pass before the closure of the legislative session last Wednesday.
But lawmakers representing the KMT, People First Party and New Party said yesterday that the session could only be held -- for constitutional reasons -- after President Chen Shui-bian (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"The bills to be considered in the provisional session have to be urgent and important ones," said Cheng Yung-chin (
Chen said yesterday he respects the decision of the legislature and would do his part to make the special session possible.
The dates of the provisional session are expected to be decided in negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties.
The bills targeted by the Cabinet include the enactment of the Financial Holding Company Law, the Statute for the Establishment and Management of the Financial Reconstruction Fund, the Securities and Finance Management Law and amendments to the Business Tax Law, the Insurance Law and laws regarding deposit insurance.
During a visit to Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) on Thursday, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) expressed his wish that lawmakers could pass the bills early by holding a special session, rather than waiting until the next session which is set to open on Sept. 18.
According to the Constitution, in addition to being held at the request of the president, a provisional session can also be held if initiated by lawmakers with the endorsement of at least a quarter of the legislative body.
Also on Thursday, Chen promised he would issue an official statement asking for a provisional legislature session, if the legislature considered this a more proper method to handle the matter.
Wang, who has always believed the session should be held at the request of the president, reiterated yesterday that the legislature must take a cautious attitude on the issue.
"Unless there are major national affairs to consider, the legislature will lack the legitimacy to hold a provisional session," Wang said.
Opposition lawmakers, meanwhile, said Chang should explain to the public the importance and urgency of the bills before the special session is held.
In addition, the Cabinet should put forth a complete list of its urgent bills that are to be considered in the upcoming provisional session, if there are other ones in addition to the six aforementioned bills, the lawmakers said.
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
RSS