The legislature’s Procedure Committee yesterday scheduled an interpellation session with Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) that is to be held over two upcoming plenary sessions.
During the meeting — the committee’s first since the end of the student-led occupation of the legislative chamber to protest the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade pact — Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Lai Cheng-chang (賴振昌) proposed demanding that Jiang apologize for the crackdown on protesters occupying the Executive Yuan before allowing him to stand on the podium to be questioned.
“Even after showing documents identifying them as members of the press, many reporters were treated violently as they were evicted from the Executive Yuan compound in Taipei on March 24,” Lai said.
“In addition, TSU Legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安), who was at the compound to show her support for the students, was injured during the police crackdown,” Lai added.
A group of protesters that splintered off from those occupying the legislature, gathered outside the Executive Yuan complex on March 23 after the sit-in at the Legislative Yuan received little positive response from the government.
The activists stormed the Executive Yuan before Jiang ordered police to disperse them, which they did with the aid of water cannons and batons in the early hours of March 24.
“The executive power issuing an order that injured a representative of the public is a serious matter,” Lai said as he called on legislators to boycott the premier’s policy address and interpellation until he has issued an apology for the eviction.
However, Lai’s proposal was rejected by 10 to six of the lawmakers on the committee, the majority of whom are members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
After the meeting, KMT caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said that a premier delivering a briefing and being interpellated by the legislature is “an obligation conferred upon that person by the Constitution,” adding that it is legislators’ responsibility to supervise the executive branch.
In response to media queries as to how the KMT would respond if the opposition parties decide to boycott Jiang’s interpellation, Lin said he would leave it to the public to judge.
He added that the Democratic Progressive Party has occupied the rostrum during the floor meeting — thereby impeding the interpellation from taking place — 39 times during the current plenary session alone.
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
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
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
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