The special bill on the five-year, NT$500 billion (US$14.8 billion) "10 New Construction Projects," the anti-terrorism act (
The procedural committee also rejected amendments to the Referendum Law (
The legislature's procedural committee held its last meeting yesterday to carve out the agenda for the last plenary session on Tuesday. The legislature's winter recess is due to start on Jan. 13.
Anticipating that the annual spending plan might not be approved before the end of the current session, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"Due to time restraints we will try to reach a consensus during the cross-party negotiations before Friday's plenary session," Wang said.
High on the agenda of Tuesday's plenary session is a joint proposition by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) aimed at allaying the international community's concerns about President Chen Shui-bian's (
Also to be discussed in Tuesday's plenary session are the political donations bill (
Cabinet spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
"It's almost certain that the five-year special plan and special budget will not clear the legislature before the presidential election on March 30, because the legislature will soon go into recess again after it reconvenes on Feb. 24," Lin said.
The next legislative recess will start on Feb. 25 and end on March 19 to let lawmakers participate in the presidential campaign activities of their parties.
Vowing to appeal to public support for the five-year plan, Lin berated the opposition bloc for being inconsistent in their words and actions. He accused KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) of coercing pan-blue lawmakers to boycott the plan.
"Everything they do has a political motivation," Lin said. "While they've introduced a similar but bigger four-year, NT$2 trillion plan, they technically boycott the passage of the five-year, NT$500 billion plan we proposed."
Without the five-year plan, which is expected to create 64,000 jobs per year, the nation's economic growth rate might not reach the goal of 5 percent, Lin said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition