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
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS