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
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS