A coalition of smaller political parties and legislative watchdog groups yesterday urged the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to support their campaign to make the legislative procedure more open and transparent.
Representatives of each party attending yesterday's forum promised, if elected, to attend legislative meetings, serve the people not their own interests, and not engage in physical clashes.
They also endorsed a pledge that they would strive to make transparent the procedure and outcome of cross-party negotiations, Procedure Committee meetings and voting at plenary legislative sittings.
Former premier Tang Fei (唐飛), head of the Taiwan Vision Forum and Association which organized the forum yesterday, said that with a new electoral system, they hoped to see better quality legislators in the new legislature.
Ku Chung-hua (
The first step toward that goal, he said, is to let the public have access to the legislative procedure, particularly the video-on-demand live broadcast of committee meetings and plenary sittings.
Ku said he would like to see such information and closed-door inter-party negotiations accessible both on TV and the Internet.
Chien Hsi-chieh, executive director of Peacetime Foundation Taiwan, said legislative committee meetings should be available to the public and cross-party talks should be recorded, both in video and audio formats. Voting on the legislative floor should be conducted in the manner of disclosed ballot, he said.
Former legislator and now economics professor at National Chengchi University Thomas Lee (李桐豪) said that legislative committees should take steps to improve their effectiveness.
Chen Yao-chang (
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said yesterday that a majority of the people surveyed in a poll said that they support a third political force in the legislature.
The poll, commissioned by the TSU and conducted by Shih Hsin University's Poll Center on Dec. 27 and Dec. 28, showed that nearly 55 percent of respondents said the legislature must have other political parties in addition to the DPP and KMT, while almost 11 percent said the hoped to see only the DPP and KMT in the legislature.
The TSU topped the list of favored third parties, TSU spokeswoman Chou Mei-li (
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
MEDICAL: The bills would also upgrade the status of the Ethical Guidelines Governing the Research of Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cell Research to law The Executive Yuan yesterday approved two bills to govern regenerative medicine that aim to boost development of the field. Taiwan would reach an important milestone in regenerative medicine development with passage of the regenerative medicine act and the regenerative medicine preparations ordinance, which would allow studies to proceed and treatments to be developed, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Regenerative treatments have been used for several conditions, including cancer — by regenerating blood cells — and restoring joint function in soft tissue, Wang said. The draft legislation requires regenerative treatments
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese