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To prevent a repeat of pending bills becoming outdated, the committee attached a resolution requiring the Central Election Commission to shorten the time lag between legislative elections and inaugurations of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.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
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