The referral of draft acts for oversight of cross-strait agreements to the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee for deliberation was again deferred yesterday after a procedural fight between the ruling and the opposition parties in the legislature.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmakers occupied the podium yesterday to obstruct the passage of the amendment on the recall threshold and a number of draft acts on cross-strait agreements oversight at the Internal Administration Committee meeting presided over by a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker.
The KMT had planned to veto the reconsideration proposal it itself had motioned for referring the oversight bills to the standing committee.
With the veto it could then have the oversight bills handed to this week’s committee meeting, which is to be presided over by a KMT legislator.
If the reconsideration failed to be put to a vote at yesterday’s floor meeting, as would happen in the case of a stalled legislature, the vote over the reconsideration proposal would be postponed to Friday’s floor meeting.
If it is vetoed then, the oversight bills would be referred to the committee next week, during which the committee meeting is to be led by a DPP committee convener.
The KMT therefore called for the suspension of placing the reconsideration proposal on Friday’s discussion agenda at the Procedure Committee meeting yesterday, which was to decide on the agenda for Friday’s floor meeting.
Also decided at the Procedure Committee’s meeting was the placement on the agenda of the proposal for handing DPP Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) over to the legislature’s Discipline Committee over his behavior at the funeral of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mother.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
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