Interparty negotiations over constitutional amendments broke down again yesterday, with young protesters, angry over the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) refusal to separately review controversial amendments on the last day of the legislative session, attempting to storm into KMT caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao’s (賴士葆) office.
The Legislative Yuan had its last plenary meeting yesterday, which was already extended for the legislature to pass the amendments in time for a referendum on the reforms to take place alongside the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 16. The failure to pass the amendments means the referendum will not take place as planned.
The party caucuses held negotiations yesterday morning intending to iron out the disagreements on how the constitutional amendments should be handled.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said it proposed that constitutional amendments on which the parties have reached a consensus, such as the lowering of the voting age to 18 and the lowering of the threshold for parties to secure representation in the legislature, be passed in time for the administrative procedures required by the referendum.
It accused the KMT caucus of lacking sincerity with its insistence on bundling amendments for simultaneous legislative passage.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said Lai stressed that it was the KMT leadership pressing for the bundling of the legislature’s power to confirm the premier and absentee voting — the two items that the KMT believes to be the most pressing, but which the DPP opposes — with the lowering of the voting age.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Ker alleged that Lai even proposed a delay to the presidential election — but not the legislative election — which would relieve the pressure for prompt passage of the constitutional amendments, because the referendum, which has to be scheduled on the same day as the elections to guarantee a 50 percent voter turnout for the vote to be valid, could then be postponed to be held with the rescheduled presidential election.
Ker said the KMT, which is likely to nominate Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) as its presidential candidate, expects a significant challenge for KMT legislative candidates (especially in the south), and that postponing the presidential election — which could allow at least another month for interparty negotiations on the constitutional amendments — would likely reduce Hung’s impact on the legislative election for KMT candidates.
Lai denied proposing the postponement, saying it was put forward by People First Party Legislator Thomas Lee (李桐豪), who, according to Lai, asked DPP Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to promise that she would support allowing the legislature to confirm the premiership.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Lai added that legislative regulations state that bills, unless already having a consensus, could not be put to a vote within one month of negotiations.
A group of young people walked into the building housing legislators’ offices early yesterday afternoon and demanded that Lai answer questions on the issue.
After a standoff with police outside Lai’s office, they were thrown out, with protester Wang Yi-kai (王奕凱) arrested on charges of assault on a police officer.
The protesters demanded to see evidence of Wang’s offense, but said it was not provided.
The police escorted Wang to a patrol car and were able to leave only after a confrontation, in which the protesters blocked the car by lying down in front of it.
DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) later said that KMT lawmakers failed to appear at an interparty negotiation session scheduled for the afternoon, adding that Lai told her that negotiations were not possible, because of a party leadership directive.
The last general assembly meeting ended at about 6pm, with lawmakers from both parties holding banners and shouting slogans denouncing each other for obstructing the constitutional reforms.
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
Taiwan is hosting the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) for the first time, welcoming more than 400 young linguists from 43 nations to National Taiwan University (NTU). Deputy Minister of Education Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said at the opening ceremony yesterday that language passes down knowledge and culture, and influences the way humankind thinks and understands the world. Taiwan is a multicultural and multilingual nation, with Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, 16 indigenous languages and Taiwan Sign Language all used, Chu said. In addition, Taiwan promotes multilingual education, emphasizes the cultural significance of languages and supports the international mother language movement, he said. Taiwan has long participated
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for