New Power Party (NPP) lawmakers on Tuesday said that they would next week propose a bill to consolidate national public holidays amid ongoing disputes over which holidays should be mandatory.
The party has also invited the public to express its views through an survey being conducted over the next few days.
National holidays should be the same nationwide, NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said, adding that cutting seven days of mandatory holidays is unreasonable.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The government should start with the current 19 national holidays and work toward a system of two off days per workweek, Huang said.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is pushing for amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), but drew fire from labor groups after proposing cutting seven national holidays from the calendar.
Subsequent disagreements emerged over what holidays should be cut and which ones kept.
The NPP said it last week held a vote on the issue among party members and party supporters.
A total of 1,364 ballots were cast, the party said, adding that holidays that secured the greatest number of votes included the Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, the Formosa Incident Memorial Day (Dec. 10), Lifting of Martial Law Memorial Day (July 15), Aborigine Name Rectification Memorial Day (Aug. 1) and Nationwide Hakka Day (lunar calendar Jan. 20).
National holidays are safeguarded by the Constitution, Huang said, adding that they have social and cultural value, as well as historical significance and political importance.
“However, the protection of basic labor rights is an even greater concern,” Huang said.
The NPP said that consolidation of national public holidays is something that must pass through the Legislative Yuan and cannot be decided unilaterally by the Executive Yuan.
“Our holidays — let us decide together,” Huang said.
The NPP has started a survey that is to be available until tomorrow midnight, which invites members of the public to give their opinions on how many national holidays there should be and what those days should be.
Members of both the NPP and DPP caucuses during the last legislative session proposed a draft bill that would stipulate specifics about the implementation of commemorative days and holidays that included various non-traditional holidays, such as New Year’s Day, 228 Peace Memorial Day, National Hakka Day, Aborigine Day (Aug. 1) and International Migrants Day (Dec. 18).
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