The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it would suggest party lawmakers withdraw a motion proposing a lawmaker pension after the opposition attacked the motion, calling it self-serving.
The legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee on Thursday approved a motion filed by KMT Legislator Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) that demanded government agencies present a bill within a month to create a pension for lawmakers, with the government and lawmakers sharing the cost.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday said the government fattened the wallets of its own people as the public suffers from the economic contraction.
KMT Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) said yesterday that while the caucus respected every lawmaker’s right to propose a bill, it would suggest the motion be dropped as current economic difficulties made the motion “inappropriate.”
KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟), one of the initiators of the motion, said yesterday that the proposal was made out of consideration for lawmakers who do not have a pension, whereas other public servants have the Civil Servant Pension Fund (退撫基金) and laborers have the Labor Pension Fund (勞退基金).
To protect the good intentions behind the proposal, however, Lu said that he would advise his fellow initiators to withdraw it.
Meanwhile, in a bid to rescue cash-strapped small and medium enterprises (SME) and traditional industry, the DPP said it would propose a NT$100 billion (US$300 million) relief fund to help save at-risk companies, especially those adversely affected by the trade pact to be signed between Taiwan and China.
DPP Legislators Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) and Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) called for bipartisan support, saying the fund would be allocated to qualified companies in a span of three years and is vital to Taiwan’s growth and economic development.
The DPP caucus said it would officially pitch the draft on Monday.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS