Opposition lawmakers voting in the majority on Friday turned down a request from the Cabinet to review a set of controversial amendments to expand the legislature’s powers of investigation.
The Executive Yuan is now required to accept the bills as law under Article 3 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution.
The Cabinet last week returned the bills to the legislature for another round of consideration, saying they were unconstitutional and would be difficult to execute.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
In an anticipated move, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party lawmakers voted together to deny the request, which was submitted in two parts.
Voting started at 11:28am, and by 11:50am, a majority of 57 lawmakers had voted to maintain the bills as written.
The final vote was 62 to 51 along party lines.
Following the vote, the Executive Yuan said it would file a request for a constitutional interpretation after the amendments go into effect.
The Democratic Progressive Party has previously said it would seek a constitutional interpretation if the bills are finalized, as well as a possible temporary injunction on implementing the new rules until the courts can rule on their legality.
The amendments to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) and the Criminal Code passed on May 28 authorize the legislature to hold investigative hearings and issue penalties for holding the legislature in contempt, including jail time for government officials.
They also require the president to take questions from lawmakers during regular state of the nation addresses.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work