A legislative committee ground to a halt yesterday when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) obstructed the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) attempts to force through amendments to a government restructuring law.
The Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee decided to discuss revisions to the Organic Act of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法), the Organic Standard Act of Central Government Agencies (中央行政機關組織基準法) and a bill on the temporary provision of the adjustments of the Executive Yuan’s functions and structure next Wednesday morning. A public hearing will follow in the afternoon.
KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said he hoped to see all related bills pass the legislature in this session.
Committee chairwoman KMT Legislator Pan Wei-kang’s (潘維剛) decision to review amendments to the Organic Act of the Executive Yuan article by article irritated DPP Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
Ker pointed out a procedural flaw, arguing that the number of committee members required to proceed with a review is three. There were only two members present when Pan made the order, Ker said.
Describing it as a move to help President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) score political points, Ker urged the legislature to refrain from acting as Ma’s rubber stamp. He requested that the committee hold a public hearing before it moves on to the review.
While Ker was pounding the table in anger, his mobile phone rang, causing laughter that cooled the mood.
Ker called on the KMT not to rush through legal revisions and create a false impression that the administration was serious about government reform. He pledged to adopt a scorched earth policy should the KMT attempt to steamroll the bill through.
Holding banners that read “the more government restructures, the more self-serving it becomes,” other DPP lawmakers joined him and requested that the KMT stop passing laws that serve its own interests. The two parties then engaged in a debate over the bill and legislative procedure.
Pan turned off Ker’s microphone and ordered a recess.
KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said he thought the DPP’s requests sounded reasonable and that it made sense to review other related bills. KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) said the process had to move on and DPP lawmakers could voice their opinions during the article-by-article review.
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said the Act Governing the Total Number of Civil Servants Employed by Central Government Agencies (中央政府機關總員額法) was the most important bill and that the DPP had to do its best to carefully scrutinize the amendments.
Pan urged DPP lawmakers to refrain from starting a row simply because they “failed” with Sunday’s and Monday’s protests.
The afternoon session turned into a fracas when Pan announced that the meeting would not end until all the articles were reviewed. After another lengthy round of negotiations, an agreement was reached.
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