A number of civic groups staged a demonstration in front of the legislature yesterday to protest a resolution by lawmakers to grant themselves an early vacation, despite a long queue of bills that are still waiting to be reviewed.
"Lawmakers have passed a resolution to close the legislative session on Dec. 21, which would give them around 40 days off before their term finishes at the end of January," Ho Tsung-hsun (
According to legislative regulations, this legislative session should be finishing on Dec. 31 instead.
PHOTO: CNA
"While they will not be working during the 40 days, they will still be paid," Ho said. "As each will receive NT$240,000 [US$7,400], taxpayers will be paying a total amount of more than NT$50 million [US$1,543,000] for the 213 lawmakers to not work!"
The groups listed a number of bills that are still stuck in the long legislative queue, including the law on judges, the bill for greenhouse gas emission reduction, the energy tax bill, the Hansen's disease (leprosy) patient compensation bill, and many social welfare bills.
"The Hansen's disease bill was introduced to the legislature two years ago" Lee Tien-pei (
"They may as well just not pass it because we will all die pretty soon," Lee said.
"We hereby ask lawmakers to do their job, and cancel the plan for early session closing," said Ku Chung-hua (顧忠華), chairman of Citizen Congress Watch. " Lawmakers who start their break early should donate their income for the period to public welfare."
Garden of Hope Foundation director Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) called on voters to boycott legislators who supported the early closing resolution.
Kao Cheng-yen (
"Whoever wants to go on a break, we'll let them go on a break forever!" Kao said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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