Disappointed by the seventh legislature’s performance a year after its inauguration, Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) yesterday urged lawmakers to focus on their duties, be “civilized” and watch what they say.
“It’s been a year since the seventh legislature began, but instead of setting good examples for the public and focusing on work, our lawmakers often engage in misconduct that breaks the rules they themselves create,” CCW executive director Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said, citing several incidents involving “inappropriate” remarks or behavior on the part of lawmakers.
In one incident in October, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰) said a colleague needed a husband to stop her from complaining.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) had expressed anger at a government policy at a meeting of the Internal Administration Committee, to which Lu said: “The only way to make Chiu happy is to find her a husband.”
In another incident the same month, DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) slapped KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) after Hung hit Kuan’s office aide.
Kuan was later sent to the Discipline Committee, which suspended her legislative authority for three months.
Also that month, KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) called Kuan “shameless” after the two got into an argument.
Earlier this month, Lu said Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) had suffered a minor stroke two years ago as punishment for the then-DPP government’s decision to change the name of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to National Taiwan Democracy Hall. Lu said the change had offended Chiang’s ghost.
Last week, in response to news that parents with a higher level of education were less willing to have children amid the economic crisis, KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) said: “Today it’s only those lower class workers with a lower education who have nothing that would have children, and their children will just grow up to become homeless people.”
“We regret that, among all these incidents of misconduct, only the case involving Kuan and Hung was sent to the Discipline Committee,” CCW chairman Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華) said. “We expect our legislature to be civilized, driven by public interests, transparent and efficient.”
In response, Kuo and Lu both said they had not meant to offend anyone. Kuan said it was not fair that the legislature had punished her, but she said she would improve her performance.
DOING ENOUGH? The HPA budgets NT$1.3 billion to prevent the health hazards of tobacco, but has no separate budget to fight teen drinking, a doctor said The government should step up alcohol education and prevention efforts, and allocate more of the budget to it, doctors said on Friday, citing the high consumption of alcohol among Taiwanese adolescents. One out of four 12-to-17-year-olds has consumed alcohol, said Yen Tsung-hai (顏宗海), director of Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Department of Clinical Toxicology. The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) budgets NT$1.3 billion (US$43.9 million) annually to prevent the health hazards of tobacco, but it has not allocated a separate budget for preventing teenage drinking or excessive alcohol use, Yen said. “There is no so-called ‘safe drinking level’ for minors,” because any amount consumed
The Fancy Frontier manga and anime expo held in Taipei over the weekend has sparked controversy, after a participant allegedly contravened the Act on Offenses Against Sexual Morality (妨害風化罪) by publicly exposing her private parts during a photo shoot. The two-day event opened at the Expo Dome at the Taipei Expo Park on Saturday, attracting numerous comic and anime creators, cosplayers, photographers and fans. Allegedly, a female cosplayer who was not wearing any underwear lifted up her skirt and revealed her private parts at an outdoor photography area near the venue. Event organizers said yesterday that to prevent indecent exposure, they have since
YOUNGEST PATIENT: Cases of botulism have been only sporadically reported over the past few years, with two in 2015, six in 2016 and none in the past three years The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the nation’s first case of infant botulism this year, a four-month-old boy in northern Taiwan, as well as five new cases of Japanese encephalitis confirmed last week. The boy was introduced to homemade solid food in the middle of last month, but began to experience constipation and loss of appetite on June 23, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said, adding that he was taken to the hospital when he developed a fever and shortness of breath on June 25. In the hospital, the boy also experienced a rapid heartbeat, limb
The National Taiwan Museum’s Railway Department Park in Taipei is to open to the public today. The park in Datong District (大同) near the North Gate (北門, Beimen) is one of the museum’s four branches. During the Japanese colonial era, the site housed the railway department of the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan’s Bureau of Transportation. After World War II, it served as the headquarters for the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) for several decades. In 2007, it was listed as a national monument under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法). At an opening ceremony yesterday, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung
RSS