The legislature today passed the third reading on amendments to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) after physical clashes erupted in the legislative chamber this morning between ruling and opposition party legislators.
The amendments to the act require signatories of recall petitions to submit a copy of their ID card, while anyone who fraudulently uses another person’s identity to take part in a recall petition shall be sentenced to imprisonment for up to five years and/or a fine of up to NT$1,000,000 (US$30,576).
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) does not even care to put on a show, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said, adding that the KMT lawmakers had taken away the public’s power to recall officials because they are afraid to be recalled.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Wu said the DPP was silenced during the deliberation process and did not have the chance to properly discuss the proposed amendments.
The plenary meeting today handled five articles of the act, Wu said, and 40 DPP lawmakers registered to speak about the articles.
The KMT caucus proposed that the discussion be halted after Wu made a speech, only allowing one DPP lawmaker to speak.
“No discussion, no democracy!” DDP lawmakers chanted as some of them threw water bottles at the speaker’s podium which were blocked by KMT lawmakers with acrylic boards.
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who was escorted into the chamber by KMT legislators after physical clashes erupted earlier this morning, conducted a vote by show of hands in accordance with Article 35 of the Legislative Yuan’s procedures (立法院議事規則).
Despite the DPP opposing the vote by various means, the third reading on the amendments of the act was passed as the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party together hold the majority in the legislature.
The Ministry of the Interior expressed deep regret today that the legislature passed the third reading on amendments to the act that would raise the threshold for recall petitions without obtaining full public consensus.
Requiring petitioners to submit their ID card copies could risk leaking personal information, causing potential harm to people’s privacy and properties, the ministry said in a press release.
The amendments could discourage people from taking part in recall petitions and restrict voters’ right to recall officials, it said.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS