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.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS