Wed, Feb 03, 2016 page3

• Legislature sets its first session

  SAVE THE DATE: Lawmakers agreed to formally start the new plenary session on Feb. 19, when Premier Simon Chang is to present a report on Cabinet proposals

  • By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter
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  The legislature yesterday carried out its first cross-party negotiations when it set the date for the commencement of the new legislative session, carrying out the talks in front of the media after a brief closed-door session.

  Before the negotiations began, Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said that they would make the cross-caucus talks transparent, but a closed inter-caucus discussion would still be needed before doing so.

  The negotiation room was opened to journalists after a 30-minute closed-door discussion.

  

  Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan, left, pays a visit to his predecessor, Wang Jin-pyng, in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times

  During the public meeting, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) and New Power Party caucus whip Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) discussed when to officially start the new plenary session.

  While the Legislative Yuan’s Conference Department, taking into consideration ongoing renovation work in lawmakers’ offices, suggested Feb. 23 as commencement day and the first day for a Cabinet policy report, Hsu said that since elementary schools open on Feb. 15, Feb. 16 would be a better date to start the plenary session.

  Ker said that the first day of school has nothing to do with the start date of the legislative plenary session, adding that the public expects a quality performance from the new legislature.

  

  Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan, seated, presides over the first cross-party negotiations of the new legislative session in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times

  Feb. 16 is immediately after the Lunar New Year holiday and more time should be provided for the Legislative Yuan’s administrative offices and the Cabinet to prepare for the policy address, he said.

  The caucuses agreed to hold the first day of the plenary session on Feb. 19, when Premier Simon Chang (張善政) is to be invited to present a report on the Cabinet’s proposed policies, followed by a question-and-answer session.

  Before the talks, Su said that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) called and congratulated him after his election to the speakership on Monday, adding that the executive branch would cooperate with the Legislative Yuan to pass effective policies.

  Su said the legislature would work in the direction proposed by Ker before the Jan. 16 elections and open the Legislative Yuan to citizen journalists — who are not associated with established media outlets — and encourage the public’s participation by allowing the use of online petitions as a way of motioning bills.

  Su also held a meeting with former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), in which the two chatted for half an hour.

  The opening of the cross-caucus negotiations to journalists received mixed responses from netizens.

  Many said that, despite the opening of political negotiations, which could involve exchanges of benefits, to the public is a positive move, secret meetings could still take place somewhere else.

  “If politicians really want to exchange benefits, they can do it wherever they want, be it on Line, Google Hangouts or even on Facebook,” Social Democratic Party spokesperson Miao Bo-ya (苗博雅) said.

  “The key to reforming ‘black-box’ legislative procedure is to invalidate the effects of agreements made in cross-party negotiations,” she said.

  “After all the bargaining, it should be up to the legislative committees to decide on matters by a show of hands and hold lawmakers accountable for the decisions they have made,” Miao added.
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