Lawmakers yesterday continued to argue over legislative oversight reforms pushed through in May after the Constitutional Court on Friday ruled that most of the amendments expanding the legislature’s power to oversee the executive branch of government are unconstitutional, including those that would have given legislators broader investigative powers.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) led a group of KMT legislators, including KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) and KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), in a protest outside the legislative chamber in Taipei, where they chanted slogans such as “For Republic of China” (ROC) and “We will not surrender.”
Fu said the ruling “officially drove the democratic ROC of the people, by the people and for the people back to the Qing Dynasty.”
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
He called Friday a day of national disgrace, adding that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Constitutional Court justices had invalidated the human rights entitled to all citizens of democratic countries.
Despite the ruling, the KMT caucus would continue to strive for democratic values, Fu said.
“We will neither succumb to President William Lai’s (賴清德) despotic administration, nor revise the laws pursuant to the constitutional ruling made by ‘green’ justices,” he said, referring to the color associated with the DPP.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
While the Presidential Office said that Lai would deliver a report on national policies at the legislature in accordance with the ruling, Fu questioned whether the president would properly answer legislators’ questions.
“If he is not willing to answer legislators’ questions, he would be better off promoting his policies at home on Facebook or through livestreaming,” he said.
“The KMT caucus does not welcome Lai’s report on his policies at the legislature. Lai should not disgrace the legislature with his presence,” he added.
Meanwhile, the DPP caucus yesterday convened a news conference to address the constitutional ruling.
They asked members of opposition parties to immediately refrain from slandering justices, as well as initiate a review of the legislature’s power of consent in accordance with the constitutional ruling.
The legislature’s investigation task force and the documents it has access to have been declared unconstitutional and should be terminated, the DPP caucus said.
The amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) should be suspended while the review is under way, it said.
The legislature should also immediately revise the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) in line with the ruling, it added.
In response to Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang’s (黃國昌) remark that the ruling has made the legislature “a tiger without teeth,” DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said the legislature was allowed to keep its “teeth,” but it could not act like “an insane dog going around biting people.”
The legislature still has its power, but it should be held accountable to prevent abuse, she said, adding that the DPP is willing to cooperate with the KMT and TPP to revise the bills to be legitimate and constitutional.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
RSS