Amid scuffles, amendments to raise recall threshold pass preliminary review

Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) Scuffles broke out on Monday between opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers ahead of a Legislative Yuan meeting to review draft amendments to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act.

The amendments relate to raising the threshold for recalling public officials.

At the beginning of the 9 a.m. meeting on Monday, KMT legislators occupied the podium and DPP lawmakers had all been blocked from entering the Internal Administration Committee meeting room.

The committee then unanimously passed the preliminary review of the bill in three minutes.

Committee convener Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩) of the KMT announced the passage of the preliminary review of the draft amendments at 9:02 a.m. and concluded the meeting at 9:03 a.m.

In preparation for Monday's review session, several KMT lawmakers gathered outside the conference room late Sunday, blocking one side of the hallway with chairs and sealing the door with tape, leaving a single entrance and exit. The KMT lawmakers also used their bodies to block the other side.

Scuffles broke out at 6 a.m. as DPP legislators realized they could not enter the conference room.

After several waves of the two parties scrapping, DPP lawmakers still could not enter the room -- or attend the meeting.

The proposed amendments to the election and recall law included a proposal by Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) to add a provision that "a recall vote must have more votes than the official received when elected."

Under the current law, a recall proposal is approved if the number of votes supporting the recall exceeds the number of votes opposing it. Additionally, the number of supporting votes must be at least one-quarter of the total number of voters in the electoral district.

The DPP contended that the proposal would make it difficult for elected officials to be recalled.

Commenting on the draft amendments, Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said that this is not the right time to raise the recall threshold.

The change could impact lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties, Liu said, and there was still no public consensus on the matter.

At a news conference following the committee meeting, the DPP's legislative caucus strongly condemned the KMT for locking the chamber and only permitting KMT lawmakers to enter. The party condemned the move as effectively depriving citizens of their right to recall public officials, it said.

In response, KMT legislative caucus convener Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) argued that DPP lawmaker had paralyzed the Legislative Yuan numerous times.

He noted that several DPP lawmakers showed up at the Internal Administration Committee door on Sunday night, threatening to fight against the amendment bill by stopping the Monday's meeting from opening.

Fu said that the KMT must safeguard the podium at the committee room, defend the rights of the people and ensure committee meetings can proceed smoothly.