The opposition-controlled legislature on Friday passed a motion to send a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposal to file an administrative lawsuit against the Central Election Commission (CEC) to a second reading without the need for a committee review.
The proposal would be pending caucus negotiations, in accordance with the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法), Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) said.
Of the 111 lawmakers who attended Friday’s session, all but the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) 51 legislators voted to pass the proposal.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The KMT initiated the legal action after the CEC late last month rejected its proposed referendum question asking whether judges should be allowed to impose the death penalty without a unanimous verdict.
The CEC had said it rejected the proposal because it contradicted a Constitutional Court ruling that requires unanimous decisions for death sentences.
The question also did not qualify as a major policy issue under the Referendum Act (公民投票法), it added.
KMT Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) said the CEC was overriding public opinion and that the DPP was arbitrarily deciding which issues are eligible for a referendum.
A mid-January survey conducted by National Chung Cheng University’s Department of Criminology found that a record 87.97 percent of respondents opposed abolishing the death penalty.
Meanwhile, Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿) accused the CEC of “disregarding the rule of law.”
Under the Referendum Act, when a referendum question is proposed and passed by the legislature, the authority may directly hold a vote without a CEC review, Chen said.
DPP Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said administrative litigation applies only to CEC decisions for which a hearing has already been held.
Because there was no hearing regarding the CEC’s rejection of the proposed referendum, the legislature can only file an appeal, he said.
Referendums are limited to the creation or repeal of major policies, Chung said, citing the CEC’s explanation.
The proposed death penalty referendum involves the creation of foundational legislative principles and therefore falls outside the act’s scope, he said, adding that the opposition should seek to amend the Referendum Act instead.
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