Mon, Jun 14, 2004 page3

• Legislative Yuan almost broke its own worst record

  TURMOIL The legislature only managed to pass 75 bills in its recently concluded session, which was just slightly better than its previous worst of 72 bills passed

  • By Debby Wu / STAFF REPORTER
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  It was the worst of times, definitely not the best; it was the age of foolishness, definitely not the age of wisdom -- the legislature almost broke its record for the least number of bills passed in its latest session. Only 75 bills, including 55 legal bills, were passed amid a flurry of shocking political turmoil created by the disputed presidential election.

  Although the legislature did not go into recess during the presidential election campaign, lawmakers were already busying themselves with the campaign before the election started, leaving little time for the legislature.

  And as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman and presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰) shouted "unfair election" on March 20, the pan-blue caucuses also picked up the vibe and started a month-long protest in the legislature by boycotting bills in the Procedure Committee and speaking about nothing except the election dispute.

  All the pan-blue caucuses cared for after the election was the establishment of a committee to investigate the March 19 shooting incident and a review of the initiation of the national security mechanism.

  They simply refused to arrange any bill proposed by the government and the pan-green caucuses to be reviewed in the related committees or discussed in the sitting by stalling these bills with their majority in the Procedure Committee.

  Premier Yu Shyi-kun recently stated explicitly that the legislature was ineffective in passing bills in its latest session.

  "The Executive Yuan presented 149 top-priority bills to the legislature this session, but the legislature only passed 23. The passing rate is a mere 15.4 percent. The bills passed in this session are the fewest in the current legislature," Yu said.

  Yu made the statement when he visited the Legislative Yuan after the fifth session officially finished with the passing of the Laborers' Pension Law (勞工退休條例).

  Although Yu was wrong about the fewest number of bills passed, with the fourth session having passed only 72, Yu's statement nevertheless angered Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).

  "The Executive Yuan kept throwing bills at the legislature, but the officials were reluctant to come to the legislature to negotiate with the lawmakers about the bills," Wang said.

  "Before a bill can pass, it needs to go through a long and winding road, and Yu Shyi-kun's pronouncement was meaningless," he said.

  The conflict between the administrative departments and the lawmaking body was another reason for the legislature's inability to pass more bills, especially with the People First Party (PFP) deciding on not acknowledge the legitimacy of the Chen administration after May 20 and denouncing the government as illegitimate.

  The constitutional amendment bill on the downsizing of the legislature also failed to pass in the fifth session. The bill was originally expected to pass on March 19, one day before the presidential election, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) hoping to pressure the lawmakers to pass the bill before the election.

  Yet the bill failed to pass and had to undergo four months of inter-party negotiations, and now nobody seems to be very zealous about passing it anytime soon.

  But on the other hand, the Political Donations Law (政治獻金法), which stipulates that politicians must keep donations in a special account for review by the Control Yuan, was passed before the election.

  Meanwhile, the Special Statute for Increasing Investment in Public Construction (擴大公共建設投資特別條例) was passed on the last day of the session to allow the government to prepare the budget plan for the 10 key infrastructure projects.

  The caucuses finally agreed to allow the budget for the Taipei and Kaohsiung mass rapid transit systems to be prepared together within the budget plan, since no-one wants to get blamed for the possible interruption of the two major construction projects and consequently lose in the legislative elections.

  The Financial Restructuring Fund (金融重建基金) was also passed on the last day of the legislative session, and the caucuses reached consensus to review the regular mechanism operated by the Central Deposit Insurance Corp (中央存保) in the next session, so that the government would be able to deal with bad debts after the fund expires.

  The last day also saw the Laborers' Pension Law (勞工退休金條例) being passed. After more than a decade's discussion, the law can finally come into effect to protect the rights of millions of employees and guarantee them their retirement fund benefits.

  In the past, according to the Labor Standards Law (勞基法), an employee's retirement fund contributions had to be paid into a common fund managed by the government, and the employee lost the benefits once he or she switched to another company.

  But after the new pension law takes effect, the retirement fund contributions will be paid into the employee's personal account, which does not depend on staying with a single employer. The contributions accumulated before the new law becomes effective will still remain in the common fund, and the employee will still lose the benefits if he or she decides to switch jobs.
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