Amid verbal clashes and political bickering, the legislature yesterday decided that it would not send any representatives to a court hearing for the pan-green camp's temporary injunction application on the March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee Statute (三一九槍擊事件真相調查特別委員會條例).
But despite the skirmishes, the committee started work yesterday morning. Former Judicial Yuan president Shih Chi-yang (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), who filed the injunction request against the statute, yesterday confirmed that they would participate in the hearing.
The Judicial Yuan has requested that the DPP, the TSU and the legislature each designate representatives by tomorrow to attend the court hearing scheduled for Oct. 14.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"Many people don't agree that the legislature should be listed as the plaintiff in the case," Wang told reporters.
"As the March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee Statute has been passed into law, I'm calling on the ruling and opposition parties to respect the dignity of the lawmaking body," he said.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (
"We'll definitely attend, because we're one of the parties filing the request. The legislature is relinquishing its rights if it decides not to appear in court," Ker said.
The DPP is expected to send Legislator Yu Ching (
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Huang Teh-fu (
"Neither the Constitution nor any existing law provides for the the so-called `immediate temporary injunction,' so there shouldn't be any plaintiff or accused," he said.
Verbal clashes also erupted during the meeting of the Judiciary Committee. People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (
DPP lawmakers called Chou "shameless" and accused him of insulting the grand justices.
The DPP yesterday urged the Executive Yuan to neither cooperate with the "questionable committee," nor allocate any money to cover its operational costs.
In related news, actor Richard Gere -- in an interview aired on TVBS yesterday -- weighed in on the question of whether President Chen Shui-bian (
"What I thought was kind of bizarre was that the opposition assumed that he had set it up, in some way had himself shot," Gere said.
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