The Cabinet proposed to veto the disputed Law Governing the Legislature’s Power amendments this Thursday. At the plenary sitting, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) announced that the amendments violated Taiwan’s constitutional democratic process and risked infringing on human rights. The Cabinet provided seven reasons for the proposed veto:
1. The examination process lacked substantial discussion and violated democratic principles.
2. Requiring the President to regularly report on the state of the nation and be subject to questioning is unconstitutional.
3. The Legislature’s indiscriminate investigative powers are too broad.
4. The legislation ignores due legal process and violates procedural justice.
5. The right to review personnel appointments indefinitely may result in idling important governmental positions.
6. The provisions of the criminalization of “contempt of Legislature” are unclear and arbitrarily expand Legislative powers.
7. Unclear outlines could leave anyone “suspected” of giving false statements susceptible to punishment.
Legislature Minority Secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤), commented that while the DPP only has 51 legislators, she believes that citizens will continue to exert their influence and put more pressure on KMT and TPP legislators.
A total of 57 votes are needed to take the majority. DPP majority leader Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said it will only take six more votes to invalidate the legislation, and encouraged the other legislators to think about who will be on the right side of history.
Cho said that as the country’s highest administrative body, the Cabinet has the responsibility to act according to the law and safeguard constitutional order. Following the proposed veto, Cho hopes that the Legislature will review the legislation, reaching a consensus that is in line with the constitution and national interests.