The Organic Laws and Statutes Com-mittee yesterday dismissed a Cabinet bill to overhaul the makeup of the National Assembly on the grounds that it was not responsible for legislation left over from the last legislative session.
Committee members across party lines frowned on the bill, which they said is aimed at strengthening a body that should act as a non-regular task force in line with a constitutional amendment.
"The committee will not review the bill, as it was submitted before the [present] legislature took office," said DPP lawmaker Lin Cho-shui (
To respect the discretion of new legislators, the Legislative Yuan adopted an internal reform proposal last year that removed bills that had failed to become laws from the legislative calendar.
Parties intent on reactivating a bill have to reintroduce it to the lawmaking body.
To prevent a repeat of pending bills becoming outdated, the committee attached a resolution requiring the Central Election Commission to shorten the time lag between legislative elections and inaugurations of lawmakers.
The proposed change, Lin said, is intended to deny outgoing legislators the opportunity to ram through legislation before their term expires.
The Cabinet bill to remake the National Assembly was introduced in early January, one month before the current session began.
Chen Ching-te (陳金德), another DPP legislator, slammed the Cabinet version of the bill as unconstitutional, because it proposed giving the National Assembly the right to call public hearings, investigate evidence and question witnesses.
Chen noted that constitutional amendments passed in 2000 made clear the intention to reduce the National Assembly to an ad hoc body that would only convene to confirm constitutional-reform bills proposed by the legislature.
Voicing a similar complaint, KMT lawmaker Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said that the Cabinet should ensure that the Assembly remains a figurehead group when seeking to redefine its powers and functions.
As former members of the National Assembly, Chen and Tsai were both deeply involved in the inter-party talks that led to the 2000 constitutional reform.
Noting that the law must be revised by May 18, PFP lawmaker Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) urged the Cabinet to submit a new version of the bill without delay.
"The Cabinet must hurry up or the legislature may not have enough time to review the legislation," Chin said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS