TSU lawmakers are considering measures that would penalize government officials who fail to answer legislative inquiries by holding them in contempt of the legislature.
Under a TSU proposal, the secretary-general to the president, the secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC) and the director of the NSB would be listed as officials required to appear before the legislature for questioning under the new regulation, TSU lawmaker Su Ying-kwei (蘇盈貴) said.
But the proposal has sparked opposition from DPP lawmakers, who said the move would become "a weapon for poor-quality lawmakers to threaten administrators."
"The legislative and executive branches are like the wheels of a car; the car can only function properly when the wheels are well-balanced. One wheel overpowering the other would be harmful to the nation's development," Su said.
But he said the power of the executive branch currently outweighs that of the legislature.
"Administrative officials only show up at the legislature when they please," Su said.
Last week, the failure of some government officials to answer questions created tension between the legislative and executive branches and triggered heated debates between ruling and opposition lawmakers.
Since the legislative session began in February, Secretary-General to the President Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) has declined five invitations for interpellation, while NSB Director Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明) has failed to show six times.
Also on the list of no-shows are NSC Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) and Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
The legislative committees have no powers of investigation, nor can they require members of the general public to attend their meetings, according to the Constitution and the Law Governing the Exercise of Power by the Legislative Yuan (立法院職權行使法).
Su said it's time to discuss whether civil servants have the right to decline such invitations.
In many democratic countries, such as the US and the UK, administrative officials cannot shirk their obligation to attend questioning. According to Su, contempt of parliament is a criminal offense in many nations to prevent officials from committing perjury or evading investigation in parliament.
He suggested an amendment to the law to allow the executive and legislative branches a legal grounding to build mutual respect so as to cease protracted conflicts between the two branches.
DPP lawmaker Wang Tuoh (王拓) said he would oppose the addition of such regulations because it would only give poor-quality legislators a weapon with which to menace officials.
He said opposition lawmakers have exaggerated the issue, adding that, according to governmental reports, the rate of no-shows among officials is less than 6 percent and that officials have presented reasonable explanations for their absence.
"Measures already exist to curb the problem, such as cutting organizations' budgets. There is no need to enact new laws," he said.
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