The political party assets bill was scheduled for a second reading during the legislature sitting yesterday, but Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demands that the bill be subject to a potential four months of cross-party negotiations makes it unlikely that the bill will pass the legislature this session.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), People First Party (PFP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) versions of the bill were allowed to proceed to a second reading during the sitting yesterday.
The DPP and TSU caucuses issued a priority mobilization order to lawmakers to ensure that any KMT objections to the second reading could be defeated. Because the KMT caucus did not mobilize its members, it was unable to prevent the motion for a second reading from carrying. It demanded, however, that the bill be negotiated.
According to the Legislative Yuan's regulations, before a bill proceeds to a second reading, any caucus can demand cross-party negotiations on it, and those negotiations can last up to four months before a vote can be held on the legislative floor.
"Whether the bill can pass the current legislature is one thing, but at least now we are making some progress," DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (
But KMT caucus whip Huang Teh-fu (黃德福) said that the KMT would not allow the bill to pass in the legislature.
"The DPP and TSU versions are aimed to liquidate the KMT, and they are against democratic principles," Huang said.
Meanwhile, the PFP's draft "cross-strait peace advancement" law also had its first reading yesterday and was delivered to appropriate committees for review with DPP support.
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