President William Lai (賴清德) is to promulgate controversial laws passed by the Legislative Yuan last week, Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said yesterday.
The legislature approved amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法), the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) on Friday last week.
Some have suggested that Lai could refuse to promulgate the laws, or that Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) could refuse to countersign them, but Pan confirmed that both men would uphold the Constitution.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Asked what the president meant when he said “democratic disputes should be resolved with even greater democracy,” Pan said that Lai did not imply he would organize a referendum.
Instead, the government would consider all its options, such as the Cabinet requesting the legislature reconsider the amendments or petitioning the Constitutional Court to rule on their constitutionality, he said, adding that refusing to promulgate the bills is not an option.
The Executive Yuan has so far only received the amendments to the Constitutional Court Act, Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said.
Once all three are received, the Cabinet would exercise its power to consider relief measures prior to the deadline on Thursday next week for the laws to be promulgated, Lee said.
The laws severely impact the administration’s ability to govern, including subsequent budgets and salary increases, and there is a high likelihood of the Cabinet filing an objection, she added.
The amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures would result in a NT$375.3 billion (US$11.48 billion) reduction of the central government’s budget, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said.
The allocation of government revenue could reduce the defense budget by up to 28 percent, equivalent to about NT$80 billion, the Ministry of National Defense said on Wednesday.
The ministry crafted a budget based on its duty to safeguard the country and its operational needs, Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) said yesterday.
If the proposed budget is not fully funded, it could affect the ministry’s plans to raise salaries for personnel, as well as other necessary projects such as Taiwan’s domestic submarine, Hsu said.
The budget cuts would have a “clear” impact on Taiwan’s diplomacy, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said.
A 28 percent reduction for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be NT$6.5 billion, affecting the ministry’s exchanges with international organizations and allies, including embassy operations, Lin said.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the party would “exhaust” all its constitutional options in opposing the new bills, including requesting the Constitutional Court to provide an interpretation.
Additional reporting by CNA and Reuters
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS