The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) would prioritize absentee voting in the next legislative session, as well as promote reforms in the media and the judicial system, TPP lawmakers said yesterday.
The next legislative session is to begin today or tomorrow, contingent on the outcome of cross-party negotiations.
As none of the three major parties seized a majority of legislative seats, the governing party and the opposition have been in intense political conflicts since they entered the legislature on Feb. 1 last year, and their interaction for the upcoming session is catching public attention.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung
TPP caucus secretary-general Vicky Chen (陳智菡) yesterday said her party would prioritize the legislation for absentee voting, as well as draft amendments to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), Labor Insurance Act (勞工保險條例) and agricultural finance reforms in the next legislative session.
The follow-up on amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) passed last year would also come into focus, she added.
TPP Legislator Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) yesterday said media and judicial reform bills would continue to be discussed in the upcoming session, as legislative and fiscal reforms have been carried out in the first and second sessions respectively.
The TPP would focus on the draft act of news media and digital platforms mandatory bargaining — which would require platforms to pay to use news content — and draft amendments to the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), which would require media companies to disclose their equity and financial information, he said.
Public awareness of judicial injustice has increased, with many people joining a protest held by the TPP on Jan. 11 calling for judicial reforms, Chang said.
The Judiciary and the Organic Laws and Statutes Committee has reviewed and approved the bills amending the Criminal Code, which included a chapter on the crime of interfering with the course of justice and the offense of absconding, as well as penalties for those who try to escape, he said, adding that the bills would continue to be promoted in the next session.
In related news, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) last month said the revision of the Act Governing Civil Servants’ Retirement, Discharge and Pensions (公務人員退休資遣撫卹法) would be prioritized in the new legislative session, in response to calls from civil servants and public school teachers to cease the cutting of their pensions and to adjust their income replacement ratios in line with those of police officers and firefighters.
Chang said up to 70 percent of respondents in a poll conducted by the TPP said they agreed to boost the income replacement ratios for police officers and firefighters.
Pension reform was inevitable due to depressed public finances, but the government has tapped into more financial sources and collected excess taxes amounting to NT$530 billion last year, he said.
The pension reform should be reviewed five years after it was implemented, Chang said, adding that it has been six years since the policy came into effect.
“I personally agree to suspend the cuts,” but the TPP’s take on the issue requires further discussion, he said.
TPP lawmakers have explored which bills should be prioritized before the Lunar New Year holiday and would continue discussions, Chang said.
A news conference would be held ahead of the legislative session to announce the TPP caucus’ list of bills it would prioritize for review, he added.
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