Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
If everything goes well, the extra session will begin on Aug. 11 with Premier Yu Shyi-kun reporting on and being interpellated about the special budget for relief measures addressing the damage done by Tropical Storm Mindulle as well as the 10 New Major Construction Projects.
While it is generally believed that the extra session will in fact be held, and the budget for the relief action will be passed, different caucuses have different agendas, with the Constitutional amendment bill being the major focus of disagreement.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucuses are both insisting on passing the Constitutional amendment bill on legislative downsizing and reform, but the People First Party (PFP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union caucuses (TSU) both object to passing it in the extra session.
Two other bills that may be contentious are the statute for the investigation committee into the March 19 assassination attempt and the establishment of a committee to review documents on the initiation of the national security mechanism on March 19.
The pan-blue caucuses want to push the two bills through, while the pan-green caucuses may not be as enthusiastic.
Besides these major political bills, both the DPP and the KMT caucuses also favor passing other bills.
The DPP caucus has proposed 16 bills including the special budget for the 10 New Major Construction Projects and an amendment to the Resolution Trust Committee Fund Regulatory Provisions (
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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