The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus called for an amendment yesterday that would require that a lawmaker lose his or her seat if convicted of any crime.
“A convicted lawmaker hurts the legislature’s image,” DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) told a press conference. “We need to fix this.”
The call for changes to the Legislators’ Conduct Act (立法委員行為法) came after the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of independent Legislator Yen Ching-piao (顏清標) on charges of illegal possession of firearms.
As the court did not suspend his civil rights, Yen will retain his seat during his jail term.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday brushed off criticism over Yen retaining his seat.
“How can the public condemn the legislature for letting him keep his seat? We are simply obeying the law,” Wang said.
DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) said the caucus had drafted and filed the proposed amendment.
“We hope the amendment will pass and take effect as soon as possible,” she said.
The Supreme Court upheld Yen’s sentence of three-and-a-half years in prison for illegal possession of firearms, but granted an appeal of his conviction on corruption charges, sending the case back to the Taiwan High Court.
In a written statement yesterday, Yen said he respected the Supreme Court’s ruling, but protested his innocence.
Yen said he was willing to forgo his salary as legislator while in jail, but stressed that his assistants would be paid as usual.
“I am willing to give up my legislative salary over the next three years,” the statement said.
Wang confirmed that Yen’s assistants would continue to receive their salaries.
Yen was convicted of using public funds to pay personal expenses during his time as Taichung County councilor, including to pay his tabs at hostess and KTV bars. Prosecutors said Yen embezzled more than NT$20 million (US$667,000) between 1998 and 2000.
Yen, a key figure in the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union, which maintains friendly ties with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), said he would not flee justice and serve his sentence. He said he would file another appeal against the corruption charges.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS