Citizen Congress Watch today criticized the Legislative Yuan for passing only 19 bills over the past two months, while also extending the current session to the longest in its history.
If the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party truly believe Taiwan needs a period of rest and recovery, they should end their malicious and aimless extension of the legislative session, Citizen Congress Watch director Chang Hung-Lin (張宏林) told a news conference in Taipei.
“Since they seem to have no intention of holding proper meetings, they should at least stop making things difficult for the Executive Yuan,” Chang said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The extension of the session is essentially dragging down the administrative team and not allowing them to get any rest, he said.
He added that while the opposition has been celebrating a major victory after Saturday’s recall polls and demanding that the ruling party self-reflect, it is troubling that the opposition itself has shown no sign of making any adjustments.
The Legislative Yuan has passed just 19 bills this month and last month combined, despite voting on July 18 to extend this year’s first legislative session to Aug. 31, making it the longest in Taiwan’s history.
The legislature passed 10 bills during an eight-day period last month and nine so far this month.
The bills passed last month were regarding insurance, commodity tax, veterans’ benefits, military salaries, establishing a national marine science center, telecommunications management, the sport lottery, civil service and court organization.
One bill that raised salaries for military personnel has drawn criticism, with some people accusing the opposition parties of using it to appeal to voters prior to the mass recall vote.
The bills passed this month were about protections for futures traders, offshore banking, the Fair Trade Commission, the sports industry, a special ordinance on national security, the rights of people with disabilities, senior citizens’ welfare, criminal law and civil servant appointments.
In addition, all seven nominees to the Constitutional Court were rejected by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week.
Today’s legislative meeting only covered items agreed upon by all parties on Friday last week, including 13 draft bills and referendums.
The meeting began at 9am and adjourned only 16 minutes later, with no ad hoc proposals addressed.
All 13 items discussed by the legislature were submitted for cross-party negotiations, which meant that no bills could enter their third reading and potentially be passed.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS