The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed bills proposed by opposition lawmakers that would increase legislators’ oversight of the government as thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the venue to protest the changes.
The legislature passed the amendments to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) after a day of raucous debates and scuffles between the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), which saw one lawmaker’s T-shirt ripped.
Progress on passing revisions to the act had been slow earlier in the day, as the DPP made legislators go through all 77 articles of the act — even those not being changed — as a stalling tactic.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The floor of the legislature was as colorful and boisterous as the streets outside, with representatives from both sides festooning the Legislative Yuan with placards.
DPP lawmakers had waved bubble tea-shaped torches, shouting: “Brush your teeth, your breath stinks” at their KMT colleagues, a reference to what they said are opposition lies about the bill.
“End the meeting if there is no discussion,” they said.
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters
Opposition lawmakers, holding sun-shaped balloons, shouted: “Let sunlight into the legislature.”
As the disagreement turned physical, KMT lawmakers yelled: “The DPP is a violent party.”
In the end, the amendments were passed on their final reading through a show of hands, with opposition lawmakers voting in favor of the changes.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The KMT holds 52 seats in the 113-seat legislature, while the TPP has eight and the DPP has 51. Two independent legislators are ideologically aligned with the KMT.
The reforms give legislators the power to ask the military, private companies or individuals to disclose information deemed relevant by lawmakers, and compel the president to give a “state of the nation” address at the start of the annual legislative session, at which they must answer lawmakers’ questions, which would be a first in Taiwan.
They also criminalize contempt of the legislature by government officials, and made changes to the Criminal Code that would impose a fine of up to NT$200,000 and jail time of up to one year for public officials who lie during a legislative hearing.
There are concerns those powers could lead to leaks of sensitive information and punishments for those who refuse to answer questions.
The Control Yuan, the supervisory branch of the government, already has the power to investigate and impeach officials. It said in a statement yesterday that it could not accept the law passed by the legislature as it violates the division of power.
The KMT has denounced the DPP for trying to “paint them red,” the color of the Chinese Communist Party, and said that the ruling party is trying to stymie efforts to investigate corruption cases and sow unfounded fears about the reforms.
The crowds outside the legislature yesterday followed demonstrations last week that were among the largest since the 2014 Sunflower movement, when protesters stormed and occupied the legislature to block the passage of an unpopular trade pact with China.
With the help of social media, protests yesterday were quickly arranged in at least 10 cities.
Protesters have dubbed their movement the “Blue Bird Action” — named after the road next to the Legislative Yuan in Taipei where they gathered.
“Even if democracy is dead, we will not stop fighting,” shouted protesters dressed in raincoats and holding umbrellas in the rain.
They also shouted: “Refuse Chinese political interference,” among other slogans.
“Your efforts will not go to waste,” Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強), convener of the Economic Democracy Union — an organizer of the demonstrations — told protesters after the measures were passed.
The Cabinet should send the bills back for another legislative review, he added.
The DPP has pledged to seek a constitutional review.
“There will be two violations of the Constitution,” DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said on Monday, adding that they were procedural and substantive contraventions.
In a statement released late last night, the Executive Yuan said it will return the bills to the legislature for reconsideration.
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
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
RSS