The legislature today passed a motion to confirm the proceedings of a plenary session held on Mar. 25 which sent two Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) referendum proposals to a second reading, after a contentious session marked by protests.
The bill passed last month contains two KMT proposals to hold a referendum on “opposing the imposition of martial law” and “opposing the abolition of the death penalty.”
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus had been occupying the podium for days to stage a protest against the bill which it said was pushed through with illegitimate means.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Today’s motion to confirm the proceedings of the plenary session on Mar. 25 was passed by a vote of 60 to 50.
As Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) announced that the proceedings were confirmed, DPP legislators chanted “the illegitimate meeting is invalid!”
After the plenary session began today, the DPP caucus proposed a bill to send 62 legislators from the opposition parties, including Han, KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) and Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), to the Discipline Committee for distorting legislative procedures, breaking the law and not following the rules.
The bill was not passed as the opposition holds a majority.
The DPP caucus then argued that the proceedings of the plenary session held on Mar. 25 should not be confirmed as the meeting, dubbed a “nighttime raid,” which was not extended according to the legislative procedure, was illegitimate and the minutes had errors.
The DPP legislators gathered in the chamber, holding placards showing a big cross on the minutes, chanting “oppose illegitimate vote” and “mass recall, big success.”
Han said the plenary session on Mar. 25 was extended until all legislators finished asking their questions as scheduled according to Rule 22 of the legislature’s Rules of Procedure at the request of the KMT caucus and the TPP caucus.
The meeting did not have the errors that the DPP suggested it has, Han said.
“Shame on you, democracy killer Han Kuo-yu!” the DPP legislators shouted as they pounded on tables to protest during the vote which passed as the opposition holds a majority.
If the opposition goes ahead with this, they can then pass bills anytime and anywhere they want in the future, DPP Legislator Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS