The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) yesterday agreed to prioritize the review of the central government budget at the Legislative Yuan’s extraordinary session.
At a cross-party negotiation held in Taipei to discuss the extraordinary session, which began yesterday and is to run through Friday next week, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said he hoped the session could be simplified and focused on the national budget.
PFP Legislator Chou Chen Hsiu-hsia (周陳秀霞) and KMT caucus whip Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) also agreed that the budget should be the priority.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
However, the New Power Party (NPP) suggested that the session also be used to discuss other matters.
NPP Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said that he does not oppose tackling the general budget at the extraordinary session, but it could, in response to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) New Year’s Day address, also be used to review bills related to the organization of a national transportation safety and investigation agency, immigration and the protection of classified national security information.
Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said those bills could be prioritized for review in the next legislative session, which begins next month.
The Legislative Yuan should be able to reach a conclusion on those bills next month, he added.
With regards to the KMT caucus’ plans to boycott the review of the Transitional Justice Commission’s budget, Su urged lawmakers to express their opinions through other methods besides denying the budget request, which would render the commission unable to pay its staff.
He said the caucuses should be able to communicate and negotiate a solution, he said.
The KMT does not oppose transitional justice, but it must be “authentic” justice, Chiang said.
The commission has no official chairperson or deputy chairperson and should not be functioning, he said, adding that the vacant positions are still being filled illegally.
The commission must first earn the people’s trust, and only by functioning legally would it have a chance of doing so, he said.
It is therefore reasonable to freeze the budget before the commission officially nominates candidates to fill the chairperson and deputy chairperson seats, he added.
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
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
RSS