Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday again occupied the legislative speaker’s podium as they urged their colleagues to retract a bill to implement the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Plan.
With the Economics Committee scheduled to lead a second joint-committee review of the bill today, the KMT caucus staged a protest against what it called the NT$880 billion (US$29.3 billion) “money-pit bill,” demanding a redrafting of the bill to reduce the expenditure and shorten its target period from eight years to four.
KMT caucus secretary-general Alicia Wang (王育敏) said the plan is “unreasonable and unjust” and that, as a responsible opposition party, the KMT is obliged to block a bill that is “destined to accrue a great debt that will be shouldered by our children.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“We would be saving the nation NT$100 billion if we cut it down by NT$100 billion, or saving NT$200 billion if NT$200 billion is blocked,” KMT Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said.
The review scheduled for today and tomorrow would be a second-round review of the bill, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), a convener of the Economics Committee who presided over the review last week, promised to restart deliberations this week after acknowledging procedural flaws in last week’s controversial approval of the bill.
Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said that since the review is to be restarted, he had no idea why the KMT had to boycott the general assembly meeting, adding that occupying the podium should be seen as a last resort.
“Using the tactic frivolously will only incur public disapproval,” Su said.
In the cross-caucus negotiation shunned by the KMT caucus, People First Party caucus whip Lee Hong-chun (李鴻鈞) called on the DPP caucus to guarantee that the bill would not be passed “as a package” and that revisions would be allowed to ensure the KMT caucus’ cooperation.
DPP caucus secretary-general Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said that the committee review is being held to allow for a clause-by-clause review of the bill.
“In the notice for [today’s] meeting, the words ‘extensive discussion’ has been included,” DPP caucus chief executive Yeh Yi-chin (葉宜津) said.
Per the KMT’s request, Chiu has also been replaced by DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), the other Economics Committee convener, Yeh said.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that during the negotiations, it was “very clear that the KMT’s tactics, for both the pension reform and the infrastructure development plan, are simply to cause chaos.”
“What they are calling for, such as an accountability mechanism [for the plan], can all be discussed and added in the bill during the committee review,” Ker said.
Infrastructure plans proposed during the administrations of former presidents Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) were not obstructed by the legislature when the DPP was the legislative minority, he added.
“For the KMT, it is easy to be an opposition party,” because they simply oppose whatever the ruling party proposes, Ker said, adding: “There would be no chance for [the KMT] to rise again.”
New Power Party (NPP) caucus convener Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said that the party favors a rigorous review of the bill and would consider the KMT caucus’ call for a partial redraft.
“Since the plan is composed of three parts — the special statute, the substantive content of the plan and the budget plan — the Executive Yuan could consider reviewing the content of the development project as the public has misgivings about it,” Hsu said. “The NPP suggests that the plan be divided into two stages of four years each, with the latter stage to be discussed later.”
“What we are dealing with now is precisely the statute [or the legal framework], without which the plan content and the budget could not follow,” Lee said. “It is nonsensical for the KMT to say that the plan [as a whole] had been passed within seconds.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique