A Siraya representative yesterday rejected as “unconstitutional” a proposal by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), saying the draft legislation would not restore the Siraya people’s rightful indigenous status.
KMT legislators, headed by Sra Kacaw (鄭天財), an Amis, have introduced a draft act that would create a separate third category of indigenous people — “Pingpu aborigines” (平埔原住民).
They cited prior Supreme Court rulings that rejected efforts to include the Pingpu under the existing indigenous classification, arguing that the Pingpu and officially recognized indigenous peoples are distinct.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times
Notably, Article 21 of the draft states that the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法) would not apply to Pingpu people.
If adopted, the draft act would infringe upon the constitutional rights of the Siraya, who are legally entitled to recognition as an indigenous group, Rectification Movement for the Siraya leader Wan Cheng-hsiung (萬正雄) told a news conference in Tainan.
The group’s administrative lawsuit for the rectification of Siraya identity, launched in 2010, received a favorable interpretation from the Constitutional Court in 2022.
The court ruled that the current legal definition of “indigenous,” which excludes other classifications such as the Siraya, fails to uphold Paragraphs 11 and 12 of Article 10 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文).
The Constitutional Court has ordered the Executive Yuan to amend the relevant laws by Oct. 28 this year.
The movement has urged legislators representing Tainan, home to many Siraya communities, to support a publicly proposed draft bill aimed at safeguarding indigenous rights.
Wan said that Sra Kacaw’s version should be withdrawn and that the KMT should respect the Constitution and abide by the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
He also called on the Executive Yuan to act before the Legislative Yuan proposes a law.
Tainan Indigenous Peoples Affairs Commission Director-General Salau Kaljimuran said the Tainan City Government stands with the Siraya and urged the Executive Yuan to review the Council of Indigenous Peoples’ proposed version.
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