Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they would introduce bills to increase legislative transparency and oversight of the government, while also opening the vote for speaker when the new legislature starts on Thursday next week.
The proposed measures seek to make the legislative speaker and deputy speaker election an open ballot vote, normalize presidential reports to the legislature, give the legislature oversight of personnel appointments to independent or critical governmental organizations, and enforce the legislature’s powers of inquiry.
KMT legislator-elect Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) raised similar ideas in 2016, but did not implement them after gaining a majority.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
“The KMT is picking up where the DPP left off,” he said.
As elections for speakers at the county and city council level are open, the Legislative Yuan should follow suit, KMT legislator-elect Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) said.
She said there was precedent in holding open ballots at the legislature, and the Supreme Court in 2015 ruled that making known who the legislator voted for to be speaker does not contravene Article 132 of the Criminal Code.
She also called for amendments to the Act on Exercising Legislative Yuan Powers (立法院職權行使法) and the Regulations on Electing the Legislative Speaker and Deputy Speaker by Legislators (立法委員互選院長副院長辦法) to reflect that an open ballot is legal.
Citing amendments to the Constitution stating that the Legislative Yuan can have the president conduct a “state of the union” address, Weng said that the phrasing should be changed from “can” to “should.”
The legislature only holds the powers to ratify appointments of those who would head independent organizations, but it should also ratify the appointments of personnel to head other critical government posts, she said, adding that the legislature should also be allowed to dismiss ministers.
Additionally, as the legislature can only obtain documents about specific individuals and cannot make inquiries, those shortcomings should be addressed in the Act on Exercising Legislative Yuan Powers, she said.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that the DPP respects the proposals of other parties and would present its own versions.
Ker said “it is all the same” to him who among the KMT takes what position, as the DPP would have to accept them, adding that he “is confident on being able to handle legislative affairs with his 30 years in the legislature.”
Additional reporting by Hsieh Chun-lin
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