TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) urged the Legislative Yuan (立法院) on Thursday (Dec. 19) to heed public opinion and delay controversial bills in favor of passing beneficial legislation like next year's central government budget. His comments came as the opposition Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨) pushed for discussions on amendments to the "Civil Servants Election And Recall Act" (公職人員選舉罷免法), "Constitutional Court Procedure Act" (憲法訴訟法), and "Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures" (財政收支劃分法).
Protests erupted a day earlier when the Economic Democracy Union (經濟民主連合) and Taiwan Citizen Front (台灣公民陣線) demonstrated outside the KMT headquarters. Premier Cho expressed concern over recent parliamentary conflicts and recalled an early meeting with Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) about prioritizing beneficial legislation. He stated that he respects the public's freedom of expression and hopes the Legislative Yuan will slow down the passage of bills that could provoke widespread societal concerns.
Michelle Lee (李慧芝), the spokesperson of the Executive Yuan (行政院), relayed Cho's concerns at a post-meeting press conference, emphasizing the need for sincere communication and prioritizing the public's interest when budget reviews occur in the Legislative Yuan. Cho also highlighted the futility of Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin's (龔明鑫) recent parliamentary efforts, urging against questioning the Executive Yuan's commitment to the budget explanation.
