The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucuses yesterday reached a compromise on the ongoing extraordinary legislative session, with the two sides agreeing to cut the session by six days and that it would only deal with general budget bills and two other draft amendments.
The DPP caucus initially planned to hold the extraordinary session from yesterday through Jan. 26, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve, but agreed to shorten the session to Jan. 20 after a meeting with other party caucuses yesterday morning.
The meeting came after no consensus was reached during cross-party negotiations on Wednesday to set the special session’s agenda.
Photo: CNA
The number of legislative items the DPP caucus originally intended to handle in the extraordinary session was also cut from seven to three, which include the general budget, as well as amendments to the Electricity Act (電業法) and the Long-term Care Services Act (長期照顧服務法).
The nomination of former minister of the interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) as Examination Yuan vice president, a draft governing preschool educators, a draft for encouraging the rebuilding of old and condemned buildings, and draft amendments to the Securities Transaction Tax Act (證券交易稅條例) were all removed from the agenda.
The Executive Yuan had hoped to see draft amendments to the Securities Transaction Tax Act — which seeks to cut the transaction tax on day trading from 0.003 percent to 0.0015 percent to stimulate the stock market — clear the legislative floor during the extraordinary session.
After cross-party negotiations, Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said a consensus had been made that the next legislative session is to begin on Feb. 17, when Premier Lin Chuan (林全) and other Cabinet members would be invited to deliver their policy report.
Lee’s nomination will also be dealt with shortly after the next session starts, Su said.
The agenda changes were made after strong opposition from the KMT caucus, which insisted that only the general budget and urgent legislative items be addressed at the special session.
It has threatened to filibuster the session by submitting 4,000 motions to slash or freeze the general budget for next year.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said he had worried that the special session would last until Jan. 26 and that the KMT caucus’ tactics could delay review of the general budget.
“The outcome [yesterday] is extremely successful. From conflict to compromise to improvement, this is the new legislature and it is how I hope the future legislature would function,” Ker said.
KMT caucus convener Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) said the reason they were able to reach a consensus was because all parties respected and took into account each other’s opinions and stances.
“Due to the limited time, the DPP agreed to the KMT’s request that a review of the general budget should start tomorrow [today]... Maybe the KMT’s proposed motions would be reduced quickly so that all items listed on the agenda could be dealt with during the special session,” Sufin said.
The compromise means the Executive Yuan’s securities transaction tax and urban renewal measures — two priority bills considered essential to revive the economy — will not be reviewed until the next legislative session.
Lin said that he respected the Legislative Yuan’s decision to postpone the review despite a prior agreement between the Cabinet and legislators on the agenda of the extraordinary session.
“The Executive Yuan has submitted bills believed to be agreed on. We submitted the tax cut proposal only after an understanding was reached among legislators across party lines,” Lin said.
However, the Cabinet respects the final decision of the legislature, which has to make its judgement according to the political climate, he added.
Additional Reporting by Chen Wei-han
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