Sat, Dec 05, 2015 page1

• DPP slams reform ‘farce’

  • By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter
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  The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the majority party in the legislature for more than 30 years, of acting out an election-motivated “farce” after it pledged to carry out legislative reforms just ahead of next month’s polls.

  Led by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), a dozen incumbent KMT lawmakers and legislative candidates yesterday pledged to reform the legislature, calling for immediate action.

  At the front door of the legislative chamber, Wang, with eight KMT legislators and six legislative candidates, most of whom are considered the party’s “middle generation,” made a statement about turning the Legislative Yuan into a “legislature for all” that ensures civil participation, calling for the right to conduct investigations and hold hearings.

  

  Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, third right, yesterday chants slogans with his fist raised alongside legislative candidates of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in Taipei.

  Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

  “There is no need to wait until [the next legislature is elected] next year, if we complete the reforms in this session they could be applied before the new legislature takes office in February,” Wang said.

  Asked about the DPP’s accusation that the proposals are spurious, Wang said he respects what the party says, but added that the best time to call for legislative reform has always been when a legislature’s term has almost finished.

  “The third stage of reform would be granting the legislature the rights to conduct investigations and hold hearings,” Wang said.

  The KMT says the first two stages were the re-election of the national representatives in 1992 — decades after the first legislature was elected in China in 1947 before the KMT regime retreated to Taiwan in 1949 — and the cross-party negotiation system, which came into existence in the wake of the first transfer of power in 2000, but with the KMT still holding a legislative majority.

  DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said Wang should not “sacrifice his integrity at the end of [his] political life just to boost the KMT’s election prospects.”

  “The KMT has held a majority in the legislature for more than 30 years and Wang has been legislative speaker for 17 years. Why is the party suddenly calling for reform two [months] before the elections?” Ker asked.

  “The DPP has been urging reform since 1992 and advocating investigative powers for the legislature for at least 10 years after the Council of Grand Justices made an interpretation in 2004 [stating that investigative power is a right of the legislature granted by the Constitution],” the DPP caucus whip said. “Following the interpretation, the DPP caucus formed a research group on investigative power and made proposals, all of which were blocked by the KMT. As of last week, the related reform proposals have been blocked 1,023 times.”

  The KMT caucus says it wants “legislative efficiency, transparency in cross-party negotiations and a neutral legislative speaker.”

  The DPP caucus tabled a reform package on Thursday which called for the neutrality of the legislative and deputy legislative speakers and transparent cross-party negotiations, which it said should be streamed live and recorded.

  The DPP also called for voting rights for those aged 18 and above, the abolition of the Control Yuan and a single-committee-convener system.
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