The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), politically bruised following a series of recent events in which lawmakers from within the party abstained from voting on key motions in the legislative assembly, yesterday outlined revised rules to strengthen party discipline.
The moves come ahead of an imminent vote on whether to relax the import ban on US beef containing residues of the feed additive ractopamine.
According to the draft resolution proposed at a caucus meeting yesterday, KMT lawmakers will be punished if they fail to vote in favor of major policies initiated by the Executive Yuan and endorsed by the party.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The resolution would require KMT lawmakers to follow the party line on government-initiated bills. Failure to toe the line could result in the lawmaker being punished by the party.
However, KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), who drew up the resolution, said it “placed more emphasis on enhancing communications between the Executive Yuan and lawmakers, rather than punishing them.”
The draft resolution will be determined at a caucus meeting the next time caucus whips consult with lawmakers, KMT caucus whip Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌) said.
With 64 seats in the legislature, the KMT has been struggling to make lawmakers follow some of the party’s unpopular proposals, including on the US beef issue and the plan to reinstate a capital gains tax on securities.
Voting at the plenary session yesterday provided the latest examples of dissent within the KMT, a party that has seen several lawmakers absent during the past few weeks, even though advance notices of compulsory mobilization had been issued.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Taiwan Solidarity Union and the People First Party, which together hold 46 seats in the legislature, yesterday joined forces to demand review of four proposals that had recently been defeated by the KMT by a narrow margin.
A motion to ban the import and sale of US beef, following the discovery of a case of mad cow disease in California in late April, was voted down 51 to 44. A motion to recall President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was voted down 54 to 44.
Speaking on proposed amendments to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) regarding the import ban on US beef with ractopamine residues, Hsu said that the party will make sure it clears the legislature this session, probably around the middle of next month.
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
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by