The Control Yuan’s corrective measure against the Executive Yuan’s “one fixed day off, one flexible rest day” labor policy was “beneath” the Control Yuan, Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said yesterday.
“The Control Yuan corrected the Executive Yuan, which was a slap in the face for Legislative Yuan members, because lawmakers are responsible for passing legislation,” Su said at a cross-caucus negotiation.
The Control Yuan on Wednesday passed a correction against the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Labor for hastily proposing amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), saying that the agencies submitted the draft amendments to the legislature without first conducting a thorough assessment of potential pitfalls and without sufficient communication with the public.
The draft amendments were passed in just seven days and have caused the cost of living to soar and have disrupted society, the Control Yuan said, adding that the effects of the amendments have dissipated within a year of their passage.
New Power Party caucus convener Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) urged Su to respond to comments by Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), who on Wednesday said that “the amendments were not a one-sided decision.”
“The Legislative Yuan could have revised them according to lawmakers’ motions,” Hsu Kuo-yung said.
The Executive Yuan shifted its responsibility onto lawmakers, Hsu Yung-ming said.
Hsu Yung-ming also compared Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee convener Lin Ching-yi’s (林靜儀) handling of an ongoing review of new draft amendments to the act to former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Ching-chung’s (張慶忠) handling of the review of the draft for a mothballed cross-strait service trade agreement on March 17, 2014, which is widely considered to have led to the Sunflower movement on the next day.
“Since the committee review chaired by Chang was voided, so too should the review chaired by Lin,” Hsu Yung-ming said, referring to alleged “flaws” in Lin’s moderation of a review last month.
“Since when did you start to admire the Control Yuan and Chang so much?” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming [柯建銘] said in response to Hsu Yung-ming.
The Control Yuan was “messing around” by “bossing the legislature around,” Ker said, triggering a response from Hsu Yung-ming and KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Wei-chou (林為洲), who asked Ker why the DPP still wants to make follow-up nominations of Control Yuan members to fill 11 seats left vacant by members named by former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
The DPP wants to nominate decent people to the Control Yuan to rectify it, Ker said.
The Control Yuan has done something “beneath” it by issuing a correction after a legislation is passed, Su said.
“It is only natural that laws are amended. If a law can please everyone, lawmakers should all just retire after one term,” Su said.
“There might have been a premise for correcting insufficient assessment, but then there is a wide range of criteria when it comes to assessment,” he said.
“Even God could not be 100 percent accurate if asked to conduct an assessment. That is why there are legal amendments,” Su said, urging the five branches of the government to respect one another.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
Chinese embassy staffers attempted to interrupt an award ceremony of an international tea competition in France when the organizer introduced Taiwan and displayed the Republic of China flag, a Taiwanese tea farmer said in an interview published today. Hsieh Chung-lin (謝忠霖), chief executive of Juxin Tea Factory from Taichung's Lishan (梨山) area, on Dec. 2 attended the Teas of the World International Contest held at the Peruvian embassy in Paris. Hsieh was awarded a special prize for his Huagang Snow Source Tea by the nonprofit Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products (AVPA). During the ceremony, two Chinese embassy staffers in attendance
RSS