President William Lai (賴清德) has approved a Cabinet request for the legislature to reconsider recently passed revisions aimed at expanding its oversight of the executive branch.
In a news release, Presidential Office spokeswoman Kuo Ya-hui (郭雅慧) said that the office yesterday morning notified the Cabinet and the legislature of Lai’s decision, adding that the president looked forward to “a broad consensus on the amendments’ legitimacy and constitutionality” once lawmakers re-examined the bills.
The amendments to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) and the Criminal Code were passed on May 28 by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers, who have a combined majority in the legislature.
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters
However, the Cabinet on Thursday last week said that it would ask the legislature to reconsider the amendments on the grounds that they were “unconstitutional” and “difficult to implement.”
The measures would give the legislature investigative powers and allow it to hold hearings, which include potentially imposing penalties on public officials and other individuals if they refuse to attend or provide information, or give false testimonies.
Other measures would require that the president present a “state of the union” address at the Legislative Yuan and take questions from legislators.
Although the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opposes the revisions, it had advocated for increased oversight of the executive branch while in opposition.
However, the party has sidelined the issue since coming into power in 2016.
Meanwhile, KMT and TPP lawmakers maintain that the revisions followed due process and are necessary reforms, particularly in light of allegations of corruption and wrongdoing relating to several major DPP government policies and investment projects.
Under Article 3-2 (2) of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, if the Executive Yuan determines that a bill passed by the Legislative Yuan is difficult to execute, it can, with presidential approval, request that the legislature reconsider it within 10 days of receiving the bill.
Within 15 days of receiving the Cabinet’s request, the legislature must vote on whether to uphold the bill’s passage. If it fails to reach a decision within that period, the bill would be void.
Upholding the bill requires the consent of more than half of all sitting legislators, or a minimum of 57 votes in the current legislature.
If a minimum of 57 lawmakers support the revisions, the president would then be required to sign them into law.
Should that happen, the Cabinet, or DPP lawmakers, might seek a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the constitutionality of the revisions.
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