President William Lai (賴清德) today formally signed a set of legislative reform bills into law, but said he would seek a constitutional interpretation and temporary injunction to try and stop the controversial changes from being enforced.
The Legislative Yuan on Friday voted down a request from the Cabinet to reconsider the bills that were passed by opposition lawmakers late last month.
The amendments to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) and the Criminal Code seek to expand the legislature’s powers of investigation, imposing penalties for holding the legislature in contempt and requiring the president to take questions from lawmakers.
Photo: CNA
As the legislature turned down the Cabinet’s request for another round of deliberation, the president by law is required to accept the bills.
In his first address from the Presidential Office entrance hall as president this morning, Lai said he has already signed the bills and would promulgate them later today.
However, aside from public criticism over the legislative process that led to their passage, the amendments also risk jeopardizing the separation of powers and system of checks and balances between the branches of government, Lai said.
He therefore vowed to file for a constitutional interpretation, as well as call for a temporary injunction on their enforcement until the courts can rule on their legality.
“Our opposition to this expansion of the legislature’s powers does not mean we are opposed to legislative reform,” he said. “The legislature needs reform, but its powers should not be expanded arbitrarily.”
Most importantly, the legislature’s powers must not infringe on the people’s basic rights to privacy, trade secrets and the right to remain silent, he added.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,