The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday passed preliminary review of an amendment to Article 99-1 of the Accounting Act (會計法) amid a scuffle between lawmakers from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party.
The amendment would decriminalize alleged misappropriation of the special affairs fund, which the Presidential Office uses to carry out state business.
Lawmakers said that the amendment could interfere with former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) ongoing trial, in which he is accused of misusing a state affairs fund while in office.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
It would retroactively remove the basis for the criminal charge Chen faces, they added.
When the legislature doors opened yesterday, lawmakers pushed each other as they rushed to the podium.
DPP Legislator Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠), the committee’s convener, called for a vote to push the amendment out of committee after a KMT motion to adjourn the meeting failed.
KMT Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) accused DPP lawmakers of violence and said that they had “rammed through” the controversial amendment.
KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said that the DPP was abusing its legislative majority.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee Deputy Director Lin Chia-hsing (林家興) said that the special affairs fund case is still before a judge, and the DPP should not intervene by drafting or amending legislation.
DPP caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that the fund functions the same as a special allowance fund and should not be decriminalized.
More than 6,700 people have benefitted from legally “misusing” special allowance funds, while the special affairs fund case only has seven defendants, Ker said, adding that the government should not contravene the principle of proportionality.
Ker said that the KMT is “dead set” on imprisoning Chen and called on the KMT to consider right and wrong.
Ker dismissed claims that moving the amendment along was being prioritized, adding that there is no reason for the amendment to be placed on a back burner, he said.
The DPP headquarters accused the KMT of “violent actions” in the legislature.
KMT lawmakers acted undemocratically, it said, adding that close physical encounters put attending legislators at greater risk of being infected with COVID-19.
Additional reporting by Wu Su-wei, Shih Hsiao-kuang and CNA
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