The Taiwan Union Solidarity (TSU) will file for a constitutional interpretation on Article 9 of the Statute Governing the Operation of the National Assembly (
After TSU presidium member Annie Lee's (
According to Article 25 of the Constitution, the National Assembly is the most superior administrative body, therefore, it is not proper for the Legislative Yuan to limit the National Assembly's authority through law, even though the Legislative Yuan is the highest lawmaking body, Chen said.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
"Only a new constitutional amendment is empowered to confine National Assembly," Chen added.
The Statute Governing the Operation of the National Assembly was passed by the Legislative Yuan on May 20.
"Article 9 [of the Statute Governing the Operation of the National Assembly] virtually deprives the mechanism and function of the National Assembly and it obviously violates the spirit of the constitution," Chen said.
"Before the constitutional interpretation comes out, we argue that the National Assembly should appeal to Article 54-2 of the Standing Order of the National Assembly (
Chen said he did not understand why the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese National Party (KMT), who together obtained about 82 percent of votes and won 75 percent of assembly seats, insisted on objecting to voting on constitutional amendments separately.
"As long as the DPP and the KMT mobilize their delegates effectively, it is not a problem for them to pass the amendments one by one," Chen said. "We think they should not persist in applying the Statute Governing the Operation of the National Assembly, which violates procedural justice by boycotting voting on amendments individually."
Meanwhile, Chen also cast aspersions on the legitimacy of the National Assembly elections on May 14, saying that the 23.3 percent turnout rate was too low to legitimize constitutional reforms.
The People First Party (PFP) supported the TSU's stance on the voting rate issue and also filed for a constitutional interpretation yesterday.
PFP caucus whips Lee Yong-ping (李永萍) and Chen Chih-pin (陳志彬) and assembly delegate Chin Hui-chu (秦慧珠) yesterday went to the Judicial Yuan to submit the application, which was endorsed by KMT caucus whip Chen Chieh (陳杰), who said his endorsement was out of his personal friendship with PFP lawmakers, and will not influence the KMT's stance.
Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Fan Kuang-chun (
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