Amid fistfights, yelling, shouting and pushing, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus pushed through a disputed amendment to the Local Government Act (地方制度法) during a hastily arranged extra legislative session yesterday, allowing township heads of five special municipalities to become district directors after the municipalities are formed.
The KMT mobilized its legislators to escort Vice Legislative Speaker Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) to the speaker’s podium as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators blocked Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) from entering the building from the doors behind the podium.
Tseng, who was heavily guarded by KMT lawmakers, managed to announce that each article of the bill would be put to a vote as DPP legislators tried to pull him away or snatch his notes and the microphone.
PHOTO: NICKY LOH, REUTERS
As Tseng was presiding over the session, DPP legislators Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) and Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) got into a scuffle with their KMT counterparts.
Other DPP legislators shouted “the KMT is a disgrace,” “oppose” and “thieves” as legislative staff tried to read through the bill.
The KMT, which holds 73 of the 113 legislative seats, managed to win the votes on every article of the bill while DPP legislators were occupied with launching protests on the legislative floor.
Under the amendment, only township chiefs who have served two terms or have been convicted of treason, tax evasion or corruption will be disqualified from being appointed by mayors of the special municipalities as district heads. The township mayor-turned-district heads will complete their term of office simultaneously when the mayors of the five special municipalities complete theirs.
This means that the current township heads of the special municipalities-to-be will be able to serve as public officials through at least 2014 — nine years after they were elected in 2005.
The DPP has called the bill “unconstitutional” as it would deprive mayors of special municipalities of their power to appoint district heads.
The legislature also voted in favor of allowing incumbent township councilors to serve as unpaid advisers to the district directors, but they are entitled to a stipend for attending meetings.
The KMT previously proposed putting these councilors on government payrolls, but revised the bill after being accused of trying to buy support with the proposal for the KMT’s candidates in the year-end special municipality mayoral elections.
In accordance with the amendment, the number of councilors of special municipalities that have a population exceeding 2 million will be capped at 62, up from 52 in the current regulations.
Some of the seats should be reserved for Aborigines if the municipalities have a plains Aboriginal population of more than 2,000, the amendment says, but does not specify the number of seats. Mayors of special municipalities with a population of more than 2.5 million can appoint three deputy mayors, down from two, the amendment stipulates.
After the bill cleared the legislative floor, the KMT caucus condemned the DPP for “resorting to violence” to paralyze the session.
KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) and secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) accused DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of encouraging DPP legislators to use violence.
Lin urged Tsai to apologize to the public over the DPP’s boycott of the session, adding that many members of the caucus were injured during the clash.
In addition to the ructions inside the legislature, several groups protested outside.
Members of the Aboriginal community said the amendment would hurt their heritage because at least five Aboriginal townships would be urbanized if it passes.
“We call on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to respect our right to self-determination. We have been asking for an autonomous region for several years now, but our requests have consistently been ignored. Enough is enough,” said Omi Wilang, an Atayal pastor and Aboriginal rights activist.
Wilang said that according to the law, all district heads will be appointed by the municipal chief. It is very unlike that the political appointees will care about Aboriginal affairs or be a tribal member, he said, stressing the importance of setting up an autonomous region.
Township representatives also opposed to the amendment saying appointing people as district advisors was anti-democratic and the positions should be filled through elections.
“We are here to protect Taiwan’s democracy. Both the DPP and the KMT will destroy the system by passing the amendment,” one of the demonstrators said.
Several protestors burned their KMT membership cards.
In a statement, the DPP said approval of the amendment was tantamount to the legislature appointing chiefs of districts directly, which thoroughly breaks the principle of local government autonomy.
The DPP said the party had done what it could to prevent this from happening, adding that Ma should shoulder responsibility for the passage of a “bad bill.” The DPP caucus said it would request a constitutional interpretation.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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