Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) will invite the premier and select lawmakers to discuss whether the president should declare a state of emergency to deal with the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot.
He said he would ask Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and key caucus members to discuss disaster relief efforts.
“We will finalize a decision after everyone has a full understanding of the situation we are facing,” Wang said.
The Constitution authorizes the president to declare a state of emergency during major disasters or political or economic crises after the Cabinet reaches a resolution to support such a move. The legislature then has 10 days to confirm the announcement. A state of emergency was declared after the 921 Earthquake in 1999 and after flooding in central and southern Taiwan on Aug. 7, 1959.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to declare a state of emergency.
Caucus secretary-general Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) told a press conference that the caucus might push for an extraordinary legislative session to discuss a special budget for reconstruction.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) said the DPP would support the KMT’s call for a state of emergency.
“We are willing to grant the government the utmost authority to save victims of the disaster and help them rebuild their homes and clean up after the flooding, including a state of emergency,” Wang Sing-nan said.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦), however, reiterated that a state of emergency was not necessary because the Disaster Prevention and Response Act (災害防救法) clearly stipulates disaster relief efforts.
The Act was passed after the 921 Earthquake because the legislature realized emergency decrees should not be the normal response to a disaster and that disaster relief efforts must be legalized, he said.
Meanwhile, legislators across party lines urged Ma to show more compassion for flood victims in the wake of his widely reported comments to two disaster victims in Taitung on Monday. The visibly distraught pair had complained to Ma that his bodyguards had tried to stop them from telling him about their father, who was missing after the flooding.
Ma responded by saying: “I didn’t know you were looking for me” and “I have come, haven’t I?”
KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) urged Ma and other officials to be more understanding when dealing with upset people trying to locate missing family members.
“If you are unable to have empathy for those who suffered in this disaster, your promise to feel the pain of the people was nothing but a lie,” DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said.
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