New opposition amendments to Taiwan’s legislation have been criticized by activists from the Blue Bird street protest movement, the Taipei Times reported on August 30.
The amendments were proposed by representatives of the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People’s Party. Together they hold a parliamentary majority.
Blue Bird activists discussed four amendments that they believe deviate from the principles of democracy.
First, the opposition proposes to increase the quorum of the Constitutional Court from two-thirds of the number of active judges to two-thirds of the total composition of the court. Since 7 of the current 15 judges are retiring in October, the remaining 8 will not be able to reach the quorum of 10 people that the proposed amendment will establish.
According to Blue Bird, this will paralyze the Constitutional Court and the opposition will be able to pass whatever laws it wants.
Second, the KMT proposed giving the prime minister the power to propose plans for a national security strategy. These must then be approved by the president and parliament.
According to Blue Bird, this is an attempt to strip the president of his constitutional right to power over national security matters and also contradicts the separation of powers established in the Constitution.
Thirdly, the opposition proposes reducing the period of stay required in Taiwan for Chinese spouses of island citizens to obtain resident status from 6 to 4 years. According to Blue Bird, this particularly differentiates Chinese citizens from other foreigners, even though they are citizens of a hostile state.
Fourth, the opposition proposes transferring the power to establish restricted water areas from the military to the Maritime Affairs Council and allowing secret negotiations with the People’s Republic of China on Taiwan’s outer islands.
Let us remember that the Democratic Progressive Party won the 2024 presidential elections, although it lost its majority in parliament.
The Kuomintang can now carry out its legislative initiatives without taking the DPP into account if it agrees to support a third force: the Taiwan People’s Party. This can provide the Kuomintang with the necessary parliamentary majority of 57 votes out of 113.
The Kuomintang itself has 52 seats in parliament. Two other independent MPs support almost all of its initiatives. The NTP has 8 seats in parliament. The PPD – 51.
The Blue Bird movement was formed in the summer of 2024 from small groups of civil activists who supported the PPD during the discussion of amendments expanding the powers of parliament. The PPD opposed these amendments and appealed to the Constitutional Court demanding that their conformity with the Constitution be checked.
Source: Rossa Primavera
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.