Priority legislation to be pushed by the premier

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday visited Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to seek the legislature's support for 36 pieces of legislation earmarked for priority treatment by the Cabinet.

On top of the priority list are amendments to the Statute for the Punishment of Corruption (貪污治罪條例), which is intended to root out and prosecute civil servants who cannot explain the sources of their wealth, and amendments to some financial laws to facilitate the establishment and supervision of financial holding companies.

In addition, Chang asked lawmakers to help pass some minor amendments to more than 151 laws, which became necessary after the Taiwan Provincial Government was downsized.

Also, in line with amendments to the Administrative Procedure Law (行政程序法), there are changes to be made to 100 other laws.

Chang suggested that the legislature pass these minor amendments in a package to save legislators' time.

In reply, Wang promised that the legislature will do its best to help, making use of the eight legislation-reviewing sittings available before the current legislative session ends in mid-June to pass as many bills as possible.

On the 36 items of priority legislation, however, Wang said some of them may have problems passing because they are "controversial" or "political" in nature.

These so-called controversial pieces of legislation include amendments to the Law on Local Government Systems (地方制度法)which seek to abolish elections at the township and county municipality levels starting next year and amendments to the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (公職人員選舉罷免法) to prevent individuals with gangster connections or criminal backgrounds from serving as public representatives.

Other controversial proposals include amendments to the Com-mercial Port Law (商港法) to enable a merger of Kaohsiung Harbor and the city of Kaohsiung; the enactment of a referendum law; and a new law to enable the establishment of an anti-corruption task force under the Ministry of Justice.

Also during the visit, Chang asked that the legislature relax a requirement under which the Executive Yuan is to report to the legislature on a monthly basis before drawing upon the subsidy fund for local governments.

Chang said this requirement has caused "obstacles" for the Executive Yuan, asking that the interval be changed to "every quarter."

Wang agreed that it is "more practical" to allow the Executive Yuan to make quarterly reports to the legislature, and he said there is in fact already an inter-party consensus to make the change.