The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) caucuses have finalized a constitutional complaint against the government’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Program, and are to submit it to the Council of Grand Justices on Monday.
KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) made the announcement on Thursday at a news conference the KMT caucus called to explain its goals for the new legislative session that began yesterday.
Both caucuses have protested against the way Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) handled the review of the Cabinet’s budget requests for the infrastructure program after the NT$108.9 billion (US$3.61 billion) budget for its first stage was approved last month.
An extempore motion tendered by the majority Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus calling for more than 10,000 motions by the KMT to be dismissed was passed after Su put it to a vote, allowing swift passage of the budget requests.
The KMT and PFP caucuses last week joined forces to request a constitutional interpretation about the legitimacy of the budget, saying that Su had violated the procedure and infringed on lawmakers’ right to exercise their authority.
The cooperation would help the two caucuses clear the hurdle to request a constitutional interpretation, which requires caucuses to obtain the backing of one-third of lawmakers at the legislature.
The KMT and PFP, along with Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅), who has formed an alliance with the PFP caucus, together hold 38 out of 113 legislative seats.
KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said that it would bode well for collaborations between the KMT and PFP during the current legislative session if the constitutional challenge were to succeed.
The KMT would not necessarily block all bills initiated by the DPP and would lend its support to bills that would benefit society, Wu said.
For example, the KMT must not oppose bills to amend the “one fixed day off and one flexible rest day” workweek policy, he said.
However, the KMT would make its reasoning heard on the bills it opposes, he added.
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