The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), with help from the People First Party (PFP), adjourned yesterday's plenary legislative session, thwarting two key bills.
The plenary session was supposed to review a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) initiated amendment to the President and Vice President Election and Recall Law (總統副總統選舉罷免法) that would prevent any individual convicted in a corruption case from registering as a presidential or vice presidential candidate.
The amendment was aimed at preventing former KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
The pan-blues also sought to block a Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) proposed bill designed to recover the KMT's stolen assets.
In order to block review of the two bills, the KMT proposed adjourning the plenary session. The adjournment effectively extends to next Tuesday, pushing the two bills back to the legislature's Procedure Committee.
The DPP caucus asked for a vote to prevent the adjournment proposal, but the motion to adjourn passed with 100 votes in favor and 97 against, out of the 198 legislators present at the session.
The KMT's victory, which had 84 of its 90 sitting legislators present, was a result of the support of 11 out of the total 21 PFP legislators, and five of the eight Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU) lawmakers.
The DPP, whose 84 legislators were all present, and all 12 TSU legislators lost the bid, despite support from one independent legislator.
The PFP, which formerly said it would not get involved in the matter, threw its support behind the KMT at the last minute during yesterday's session.
After his caucus' failure to stop the session from adjourning, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (
"The blocking of the amendment will only ruin the KMT's future ... How could a person indicted on corruption charges represent the nation?" he added. "We are very sorry that the KMT has dug its own grave."
Meanwhile, the TSU caucus had harsh words for the pan-blue camp, saying that the two opposition caucuses had resorted to "majority violence."
"We need clean politics, and the president should be a role model," TSU Legislator Kuo Lin-yung (郭林勇) told a press conference.
"It will be a joke on a global scale if we elect a corrupt president," TSU Legislator Liao Pen-yen (
KMT legislative whip Hsu Shao-ping (
Executive director of the PFP caucus' Policy Committee, Hwang Yih-jiau (
Prior to the session yesterday, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) told the press that he personally disapproved of the DPP's proposed amendment, because it seemed tailor-made for one individual.
"However, we still have to deal with the amendment in accordance with stipulated procedures, because lawmakers are entitled to introduce bills," he said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
also see story:
KMT rebuts reports farmers' group will form political party
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS