The New Power Party (NPP) criticized slow government progress on key reforms yesterday, just ahead of the anniversary of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inauguration.
“We’re worried that many reforms will only be half done,” NPP caucus whip Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said, citing slow progress on articles for furthering transitional justice, along with an amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法).
He added that while cross-strait relations are an important domestic consideration, they should not serve as an excuse to drag out political “normalization,” such as removing the last vestiges of the provincial government.
Photo: Yang Chun-hui, Taipei Times
“When we proposed an agenda for constitutional reform last year, the ruling party said it would set its own pace and schedule for pushing reform, but the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] is about to enter its second year in power. Constitutional reform is not something that can be achieved in one big leap — if we still cannot see a schedule, I have trouble imagining how any constitutional reforms can be accomplished by the end of the DPP’s term,” NPP Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said.
Constitutional amendments are necessary to fundamentally address issues such as lowering the voting age and clarifying the nation’s relationship with Aborigines, he said.
NPP Legislator Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) criticized the slow progress in realizing housing policy goals, as well as the failure to ameliorate the long working hours and low wages faced by the nation’s young people.
“Currently, the issue of providing public childcare is still just empty talk,” Hung said.
NPP Legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal, an Amis, criticized the passage of a bill aimed at reviving Aboriginal languages for failing to specify the sources of funding.
Michael Lin (林世煜), president of the NPP’s think tank, criticized the DPP for treating voters as “teammates” before the election and “pig-heads” afterward.
Citing the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program bill passing a review by the legislature’s Economics Committee, he said the DPP had become more arrogant, willing to discuss its policies prior to elections, but “treating people as its enemies” afterward.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS