The stage is set for a battle royale at the Legislative Yuan tomorrow, as the pan-green camp gears up to slug it out with the pan-blues over two controversial bills.
Even by recent standards, the organic bill of the proposed national communications commission (NCC) and the cross-strait peace advancement bill are proving to be highly divisive issues.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus and its ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), are worried that tomorrow's confrontation will turn ferocious because the People First Party (PFP) caucus has vowed to team up with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to push the peace advancement bill -- dubbed the "capitulation bill" by some critics -- through "regardless of the cost" -- including possibly violent disruptions to legislative proceedings.
PHOTO: WALLY SANTANA, AP
In response, the TSU caucus has vowed to fight tooth and nail to "safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty," while the DPP caucus also said that it would not rule out the possibility of mobilizing supporters to stage a protest outside the legislative compound.
Taking into consideration the pan-blue camp's numerical advantage, however, it is widely believed that opposition parties may eventually succeed in steamrolling the bill through the legislature.
Pan-greens
The DPP caucus has issued a mobilization order asking all caucus members to attend tomorrow's plenary legislative session.
The caucus will also hold a meeting prior to any inter-party talks called before the legislative sitting, with the hope of devising a countermeasure to defeat the opposition's attempt to push through the bills.
In addition to reiterating his party's opposition to the pan-blues' NCC bill, DPP caucus whip William Lai (
"We firmly oppose the NCC bill proposed by the pan-blue alliance, and hope they will rein in their horses before it is too late," he said.
Lai said that the party's opposition to the pan-blue camp's bill was based on the belief that it is bound to politicize the media watchdog, and that the bill was also part of the pan-blues' efforts to protect the KMT's stolen assets.
While both camps agree that it is necessary to set up the NCC, they disagree on the composition of the body.
The pan-blue alliance of the KMT and PFP, which holds a slim majority in the legislature, has proposed that the NCC be comprised of members in proportion to the number of seats each party holds in the legislature.
The DPP and TSU insist that political parties should not be directly involved in the commission, and that independent experts and academics should serve in the commission.
The pan-green alliance also criticized article two of the pan-blue camp's proposal as serving the interests of China Television Co (CTV), and described article 19 as the "BCC [Broadcasting Corp of China] clause," because it would allow a media institution to file for a review after the proposed NCC is established if it thinks its rights have been violated.
BCC was recently unable to renew its license after the Government Information Office said that it did not meet the requirements necessary for a new license.
The KMT owns a 96.95 percent stake in BCC and a 65 percent stake in CTV through Hua Hsia Investment Holding Co.
DPP caucus whip Jao Yung-ching (
His caucus would also request a constitutional interpretation from the Council of Grand Justices if the executive branch is unable to stop the legislation.
Regarding the peace advancement bill, Lai said that such a piece of legislation will not bring peace to the Taiwan Strait, but will instead bring more trouble and create more disputes.
"We strongly oppose the bill and will do our best to block it [tomorrow]," he said. "But if things get out of hand, we will not be the cause of it."
Jao condemned the pan-blue camp for using its numerical advantage in the legislature trying to force the passage of the bill, which he criticized as a "bylaw of China's `Anti-Secession' Law."
Pan-blues
The pan-blue alliance has also issued mobilization orders to ask caucus members to attend tomorrow's legislative sitting.
The KMT caucus is scheduled to hold a meeting before tomorrow's interparty talks to iron out differences over the two bills.
KMT Legislator Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), who also serves as the executive director of the party's Central Policy Committee, yesterday called on the pan-green camp to abandon what he called its "irrational" boycott of the NCC bill and give the media a "clean" space.
While pan-blue lawmakers have signed up for the first 20 slots to speak on the NCC bill during tomorrow's session, Tseng said that they can, in accordance with legislative procedure, file a request to put the bill to a vote immediately after their speeches.
"But, I don't think we are going to do that, for the sake of ensuring legislative harmony," he said.
Tseng estimated that it might take about seven or eight hours to tackle the NCC bill altogether, leaving little time for the peace advancement bill.
Although it is the PFP who is more keen on passing the peace advancement bill, Tseng said that as a stout ally, his caucus will side with the PFP on the matter.
Defending his caucus' aggressive stance on the peace advancement bill, PFP caucus whip Hwang Yih-jiau (黃義交) yesterday said that his caucus will continue down the road of "gentility" and "rationality" and will not engage in any violent disruptions on Tuesday, but nor will it flinch in the face of violence.
"We are well prepared," he said. "All caucus members are asked to dress lightly on Tuesday so we can swiftly take action if any disturbance breaks out."
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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