As extra legislative sessions loom, so do disagreements on how many sittings and when. However, the caucuses have agreed to let Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) host interparty negotiations to schedule the extra sittings.
The Executive Yuan met the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus two days ago and decided to seek an extra sitting late next month to handle the proposed constitutional amendment on legislative downsizing, the budget plan for the 10 key infrastructure projects and other important bills.
But the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus proposed yesterday to hold two extra sittings to handle the constitutional amendment bill next month and drafts related to the March 19 assassination attempt in August.
"The constitutional amendment bill will finish its four-month negotiation period on July 19, and we propose to hold a sitting then to deal with the bill," said the KMT caucus whip, Liao Feng-te (廖風德).
"Meanwhile, the draft for the March 19 shooting special committee and the statute for establishment of a document-reviewing committee on the initiation of the national security mechanism after the March 19 incident will be discussed at the sitting on August 12, and we will consider whether to demand an additional sitting then," Liao said.
"But as to when the extra sittings will be held and what will be discussed, we will wait for Wang Jin-pyng's return [from the US] and have him host interparty negotiations," Liao said.
The DPP caucus director-general, Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), also agreed that the two caucuses should wait for Wang's return to schedule the special sessions.
"The DPP caucus does not insist on a particular format of the extra sittings.
"We just hope to hold extra sittings to pass bills needed by the public as soon as possible," Tsai said.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
RSS