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.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS