The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whip yesterday criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), accusing it of being “insincere” over its calls for constitutional reform after a constitutional amendment committee was convened, but a proposal to set the committee up was not discussed.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the KMT has placed the proposal for setting up the committee behind controversial motions to confirm Control Yuan nominees and establish an oversight mechanism for cross-strait agreements.
Ker said the way the KMT had prioritized the agenda was “full of political calculation.”
The motion to set up the committee — which was proposed by legislators across the party lines in response to public calls to amend the Constitution in a bid to end the political impasse — was placed on the legislative discussion agenda on Tuesday with an eye to seeing it passed yesterday.
However, the legislature did not deal with the proposal, leaving it to the next meeting on Tuesday.
Despite the deferral, the KMT party caucus resolved to establish a task force to look at constitutional amendments “in response to the motion to set up the committee tabled by more than 40 legislators across the party lines.”
With KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) as its convener, the committee is to examine possible revisions of the Constitution “according to the principle of power being commensurate with accountability and corresponding to the current constitutional-political system,” KMT caucus whip Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said.
“The controversies about cross-strait relations and unification or independence should be avoided lest the amendment process be stalled,” Fai said.
As for what kind of political institution the party regards as the most ideal, Fai said there have been different opinions offered, such as a parliamentary system, having the president double as premier or a revival of the legislature’s right to approve the president’s appointment of the premier, and that they would be thoroughly discussed and eventually summarized and proposed as a draft amendment.
Meanwhile, Ker criticized New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), the sole contender to be the next KMT chairman, for publicly advocating a parliamentary system without first consulting his own party.
“This made him more like [President] Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) than Ma Ying-jeou himself,” Ker said. “Chu should undertake party reform before initiating constitutional reform.”
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all