Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday called on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to refrain from physical conflict in the legislature after the most serious scuffle in the legislature for years broke out on the legislative floor on Monday.
Wang told reporters that he regretted the conflict and expected to prevent similar cases.
“Everyone should sit down, negotiate and reach a consensus by showing mutual respect. When necessary, we call for a vote rationally. This is what should be done for the legislature to build a positive image,” Wang said.
The KMT-dominated legislature held 30 votes in 70 minutes on Monday evening to push through a disputed amendment to the Local Government Act (地方制度法) amid protracted scuffles.
Under the amendment, the current township mayors of five special municipalities will become district heads when the five municipalities are formed at the end of the year. They will be able to serve as public officials through 2014 — nine years after they were elected in 2005.
Only those who have served two terms or have been convicted of treason, tax evasion or corruption will be disqualified from holding a post.
A total of 56 incumbent township heads qualify.
The DPP had accused the KMT of using the bill to secure support for the KMT’s candidates in the year-end special municipality mayoral elections, adding that the bill might be unconstitutional because it deprives the authority of the mayors of the five special municipalities to appoint district heads.
During the review, DPP legislators tried to block Wang and Vice Legislative Speaker Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) from putting the articles to a vote. Some of them besieged Wang as he entered the legislative building, while some tried to pull Tseng away from the speaker’s podium and snatch his microphone.
However, the KMT mobilized its lawmakers to guard Tseng, while some KMT legislators dragged DPP legislators away as they tried to climb the podium.
Several KMT legislators pinned DPP Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) down because she was getting too close to Tseng, while DPP legislators Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) and Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) tussled with KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑).
Monday’s clashes were the first since the seventh legislature convened last year.
The last scuffle occurred on Jan. 19, 2007, when the legislature was reviewing the Organic Act of the Central Election Commission (CEC) (中央選舉委員會組織法).
At that time, the speaker was almost hit by a shoe.
KMT and DPP legislators continued to blame each other for the conflict yesterday.
Hsieh, sporting several deep scratches on his face, said Liu acted like an “ex-con” because he “hit whoever he saw [on the legislative floor].”
KMT Legislator Lin Ming-chen (林明溱) accused DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) of biting his arm.
The DPP said in a press statement yesterday that the party regretted and condemned the passage of the bill by the KMT.
In the statement, the party said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) had put their “dirty hands” into the legislature by ordering KMT legislators to vote on the controversial bill, a move the DPP called majority “violence.”
The statement called Monday the “darkest day in Taiwan’s constitutional history.”
The DPP accused the KMT of trying to use the proposal to win grassroots support in local elections and the approval of the bill breaks the principle of local government autonomy. It is ironic that the KMT had said it is a reform party, the statement added.
The DPP said the bill is unconstitutional because once it is enacted, township chiefs who have served one term would become district chiefs for four more years after the five special municipalities are formed. Finally, they could serve nine years (including one year waiting for special municipalities election) after winning just one election.
The DPP caucus would soon file for a constitutional interpretation, the statement said.
Meanwhile, legislative watchdog Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) urged the KMT and the DPP to apologize to the public over the physical clashes.
Chairman Ku Chung-hua (顧忠華) condemned the two parties for “disregarding legislative harmony and resorting to violence.”
“The two parties acted like gangs,” Ku said, adding that Ma should sit down and communicate with DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in his capacity as KMT chairman.
Also, KMT caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) rebutted the DPP caucus’ allegation that the amendment was unconstitutional. Lu said the township heads who become district heads would be able to help municipality mayors push local development during the “transition period” right after the special municipalities are formed.
Wang also dismissed the DPP’s criticism, saying that the amendment was simply a matter of “appropriateness” rather than “legitimacy.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
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