The Taiwan Bar Association yesterday urged legislators not to circumvent established procedures to push through legislative reforms, while condemning a massive brawl that erupted between lawmakers on Friday.
Voting on the amendments to Article 15 of the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) — proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party legislators — was eventually done close to midnight by a show of hands without recording the names of the voters after scuffles and procedural stalling tactics by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
The association in a statement said that one party was “wrecking the operating principles of Taiwan’s constitutional democracy” to pursue its own interests.
Photo: Lin Liang-sheng, Taipei Times
The actions of opposition lawmakers to push through bills that would expand legislators’ powers and authorize funding for infrastructure in the east were taken without deliberation or review in legislative committees, in an effort to go straight to voting to pass a third reading, it said.
“The bills would have a great impact on the functioning of the government and the nation’s democratic constitutional order. They would also involve planning and authorization for significant portions of the budget, and have important ramifications for all people,” the association said.
It urged lawmakers to abide by democratic principles and follow legislative procedures, to ensure that bills receive legitimate scrutiny.
In addressing significant amendments and bills for major public infrastructure projects, the legislature must confer with all members for deliberation and receive feedback through established procedures before voting, it said.
The proposed bills would make “contempt of legislature” a punishable offense, while seeking more than NT$2 trillion (US$62.1 billion) for highway and high-speed rail projects.
The Legislative Yuan did not exercises its mandated functions in ensuring that the bills followed legislative procedures, and it had contravened those rules by voting using a show of hands, the association said.
KMT spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu said that a vote by a show of hands conforms to Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Yuan (立法院議事規則).
The bills had gone through three public hearings and a presentation at a dedicated meeting, Yang said.
She said that DPP lawmakers had disrupted procedure by raising 40 motions to adjourn, when the bills underwent a clause-by-clause review at legislative committee meetings.
“We request that when speaking on these issues, the Taiwan Bar Association base their comments on facts,” she said, adding that association chairwoman Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), a lawyer and former DPP legislator, has political leanings on the issue.
“We ask Yu not to have double standards, and to remember the need to reform the Legislative Yuan,” she said.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS