The Executive Yuan yesterday decided to send controversial legislative reform bills back to lawmakers for reconsideration, pending approval from the president, saying they are unconstitutional and would be difficult to implement.
The Cabinet found the measures passed on Tuesday last week by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers “difficult to implement,” Minister Without Portfolio Lin Ming-hsin (林明昕) told a news conference yesterday.
The Cabinet was preparing, pending the president’s approval, to request that lawmakers reconsider those revisions in accordance with Article 3-2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution, he said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
Lin was referring to the measures that would give the legislature new investigative powers, the ability to hold hearings, and impose fines on public officials who refuse to attend a hearing or provide information, or lie.
Those measures contradicted past constitutional interpretations, which say the exercise of investigative and hearing powers must be restrained, Lin said.
Furthermore, the measures stipulate that public officials who fail to comply would be guilty of “contempt of the legislature” and subject to imprisonment, but does not clearly define what constitutes contempt, Lin said, adding that the punishments contravened constitutional principles of proportionality.
Lin said the amendments requiring the president to give an annual state of the nation address to the legislature and then take questions from the floor are unconstitutional, and are not in line with Taiwan’s system.
The deliberation that led up to the passage of the measures “lacked substantive discussions” and therefore “violated democratic principles,” Lin said.
Lin said the amendments to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) and the Criminal Code were also approved through “unconstitutional procedures,” so those revisions, regardless of their justifiability, were unconstitutional.
The amendments seeking greater oversight of the president’s and Cabinet’s powers have caused brawls in the legislature and sparked heated debate in society over the past few weeks.
Although the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has vehemently opposed the revisions, it advocated for increased oversight of the executive branch while in opposition. However, it has sidelined the issue since coming to power in 2016.
The KMT and TPP maintain that the revisions have followed due process and are a necessary reform, in light of previous allegations of corruption in the government’s major policies and investment projects.
The Constitution states that if the Executive Yuan finds a bill passed by the Legislative Yuan difficult to execute, it can, with the president’s approval, request for the legislature’s reconsideration within 10 days of receiving the bill.
President William Lai (賴清德) would make a decision after a careful assessment, Presidential Office spokesperson Kuo Ya-hui (郭雅慧) said.
Within 15 days of receiving the Cabinet’s request, the legislature must vote on whether to uphold the passage of the bill. If it fails to reach a resolution within this period, the bill would become invalid.
The Cabinet’s decision was not meant to escalate conflict between the parties, Cabinet spokesperson Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) cited Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) as saying.
They hope that the legislature would re-examine the amendments and ensure they are aligned with the Constitution and national interests, Cabinet spokesperson Chen said.
Asked whether the Cabinet would take the case to the Constitutional Court, Lin only said it was “too early” to consider such a “hypothetical” question.
DPP lawmakers can also request a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the revisions’ constitutionality.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS