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Legislators tighten grip on executive accountability

Government officials who are absent from the question-and-answer sessions of legislative committees without good reason will be referred to the Control Yuan for punishment, according to amendments of the Law Governing Legislators' Exercise of Power (立法院職權行使法) that passed preliminary review yesterday.

Discipline

According to the motion, proposed by People First Party (PFP) caucus whip Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟), officials who fail to appear at legislative committee meetings without reason would be disciplined if half of the committee members present support the move. But Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators held a different position.

Vague

DPP caucus whip Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said that the definition of "holding the legislature in contempt" was too vague.

After some discussion, the legislature's Organic Laws and Statutes Committee passed the amendment stipulating that absentees would be sent to the Control Yuan for "adequate punishment."

In their review, the committee also passed a proposal that officials who cannot attend legislative committee meetings must request leave beforehand. This would not apply if the committee demanded specific officials to attend.
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