The legislature yesterday voted in favor of upholding two newly passed amendments to the Farmers' Association Law (農會法) and the Fishermen's Association Law (漁會法), enabling association staffers standing trial to retain their posts until a final verdict is passed.
At present the law states that indicted staff members would have to be dismissed when they are convicted in the second stage of a trial.
After the vote, a group of pan-blue lawmakers took to the floor of the legislature and chanted that Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES
Ten days after he became premier, Chang urged the legislature to overturn the amendments, saying that they would pave the way for the return of "black gold" politics and damage the development of the associations.
The Constitution allows the Cabinet, with the president's consent, to ask the legislature to reconsider a law or amendment if it deems a statutory, budgetary or treaty bill passed by the legislature difficult to implement.
The premier is not required by the Constitution to resign if the reconsideration request is rejected. However, the premier is required to accept the results of the vote.
"Despite the Constitution, we still think that Premier Chang has to take political responsibility for losing the vote," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (
The Cabinet's request was defeated along party lines by a vote of 115 to 96. KMT Legislator Lee Sen-zong (李顯榮) and People First Part Party Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) were absent from the vote, while KMT Legislator Chen Chao-rung (陳朝容) cast an invalid ballot.
Tseng said that Lee and Chen would be punished as the KMT had ordered its members to vote against the Cabinet's request.
Lee, who reportedly has been recruited by the Democratic Progressive Party to run in the January legislative elections, told reporters that he "was free of the KMT now that the KMT doesn't care about me."
Lee skipped the KMT's legislative primary after it failed to negotiate on nomination matters between him and KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇).
Chen, who lost in the primary to Changhua County Council Deputy Spokesman Hsiao Ching-tien (
PFP Spokesman Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said that Liu had gotten drunk on Monday night and couldn't make it to yesterday's vote.
Meanwhile, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (
"In the end, the KMT chose to ally itself with `black gold.' The KMT chose to stand in confrontation with the Taiwanese people," he told a press conference.
"Members of the KMT caucus gave in to their caucus whip's order. Where were all the `reformists?' How could they sabotage their own political careers to safeguard KMT's interests?" Ker said.
DPP Legislator Wu Ming-ming (吳明敏) told another press conference that allowing convicted personnel to stay in farmers' or fishermen's associations showed the KMT's preference for "black gold politics."
Wu said there were 906 senior staffers in the farmers' associations nationwide and 172 of them were found guilty in the first trials, 32 were found guilty in second trials and four were convicted after three trials.
Blocking the reconsideration proposal not only went against the public's expectations but would create difficulties for the agriculture and fishing industries, he said.
Government Information Office Minister Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) said that the Cabinet would accept the result, but felt sorry about the vote.
"Whether or not it was the right thing is up to the public to decide," Shieh said yesterday afternoon.
He also complained that KMT Legislator Diane Lee (
"She once complained that she had been threatened by gangsters. What she has done now would seem to contradict that," Shieh said.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai