Opposition lawmakers yesterday voted to extend the legislative session for two months to July 31, prompting accusations from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that they were attempting to avoid recall votes.
DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that “everyone knows” why the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is seeking to extend the session, given the fear of recalls among KMT lawmakers.
The DPP would support extending the session for bills that benefit the country and people’s livelihoods, but not for the benefit of the KMT, Wu said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
While the country faces increased tariffs from the US and people hope for change, DPP lawmakers want to take a vacation, KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said.
The DPP has yet to grant Taiwan’s workers more holiday leave, yet its lawmakers want to take a two-month vacation, Wang said.
That would be the longest extension in the history of the Legislative Yuan, DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said on Facebook.
Lawmakers who only work when they are in session “have a very easy life,” he added.
The KMT proposal stems from the party’s fear of the recall movement and intention to shelter under the “protective umbrella” of the Legislative Yuan, DPP Legislator Jean Kuo (郭昱晴) wrote on Facebook, asking which bills justified an extended session.
The Legislative Yuan could also seek an extraordinary session rather than extending the current session, Kuo said.
Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers yesterday passed a proposal to hold a referendum over restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County, the last nuclear facility to be decommissioned in Taiwan.
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and the KMT passed the bill in a vote split down party lines.
The Central Election Commission would be tasked with holding the referendum.
Taiwan on Sunday began the permanent deactivation of the plant’s No. 2 nuclear reactor, the nation’s final operational unit.
This referendum, one of the two proposed on April 18 by the TPP, asks if the public agrees that the Ma-anshan plant should be kept operational, assuming authorities certify its safety.
The other bill asks if voters agree that the government should legalize voting by absentee ballot in the Republic of China’s “free territories.”
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS