The Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday for failing to fulfill its promise of legislative reform, citing the high number of KMT absences at the legislature and the stalled sunshine bills.
Statistics released by the CCW at a press conference held outside the Legislative Yuan showed KMT Legislator Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) topping the list with 18 absences during the legislative session from February to May. KMT legislators Liu Chuan-chung (劉銓忠) and Tsao Erh-chung (曹爾忠) ranked second with 16 absences each and Lii Ming-shing (李明星) placed third with 15 absences.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chi-yu (陳啟昱) and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Yen Chin-piao (顏清標) also ranked second.
PHOTO: CNA
“Since the legislative session began, the legislature’s efficiency has been really disappointing,” CCW chairman Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華) said.
“The KMT leadership, including [President] Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九], [KMT chairman] Wu Poh-hsiung [吳伯雄] and [Legislative Speaker] Wang Jin-pyng [王金平] repeatedly told the public that the KMT, with the majority in the legislature and the governing party, will make legislative efficiency and self-discipline its priority” Ku said.
“They also said they would push for legislative reform and pass the sunshine bills — but what do we see now?” Ku said.
Ku urged lawmakers to strive to “achieve perfect attendance records and work harder to have the sunshine bills passed.”
Approached for comment, Chang said a legislator’s performance should not be judged solely on his or her record of attendance.
“I was helping to take care of the fertilizer [shortage] problem and flooding because of heavy rains in Yunlin County,” she said. “Although I wasn’t at legislative meetings, I was helping the farmers in my constituency.”
Liu said he was busy attending the funeral of farmers who died because of the heat, while Tsao said he was unable to return to Taipei from his constituency in Matsu because of heavy fog.
Liu said that he was out of the country on official business.
Chen said he was busy running for local chapter chairman, but promised that he would spend more time at the legislature as the local party chief election was over.
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
The number of people who reported a same-sex spouse on their income tax increased 1.5-fold from 2020 to 2023, while the overall proportion of taxpayers reporting a spouse decreased by 4.4 percent from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. The number of people reporting a spouse on their income tax trended upward from 2014 to 2019, the Department of Statistics said. However, the number decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely due to a drop in marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the income of some households falling below the taxable threshold, it said. The number of spousal tax filings rebounded
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS