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.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS