Thousands march in Taipei against opposition-led amendments

Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) More than 10,000 people took to the streets in Taipei Thursday to protest three legal amendments proposed by the opposition parties and demand Kuomintang (KMT) legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) step down, according to the organizer.

The march, organized by the civic groups Taiwan Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and Taiwan Citizen Front, began outside the Legislative Yuan, looped through nearby streets, and returned to its starting point after about an hour.

Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強), convener of the EDU, said that the entire Legislature has been thrown into chaos by Fu -- whose KMT, along with the smaller opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP), has a majority of seats in the Legislature -- and claimed Fu has completely eliminated all democratic discussion and review processes.

"He (Fu) has confiscated the discussions in the committees," Lai said, adding that almost all bills are sent directly to the Legislative Yuan's floor meeting, bypassing "genuine discussion and substantive review at the committee-level."

Among those chanting slogans in the rain was 39-year-old Duck Lee, who said that the passage of the three amendments proposed by the opposition would have a hugely adverse impact on the rights hard-won by the Taiwanese people.

"I'm from Kaohsiung and we were the ones who once recalled Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜)," Lee said, noting that the KMT's Han becoming the legislative speaker is "an insult" to the people of the southern port city.

"And now, they're trying to take away our right to recall -- this is something we absolutely cannot accept," he added.

The three legal amendments mentioned by Lee were proposed by the KMT and the TPP, targeting the Public officials Election And Recall Act, the Constitutional Court Procedure Act, and the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures.

For the amendments to the election and recall act, the proposed changes aim to raise the threshold for recalling an official, including the addition of a provision that "a recall vote must have more votes than the official received when elected."

While the KMT said that the amendment will prevent the power of recalls "being abused," the EDU claims it would "confiscate the people's right to recall."

Regarding the Constitutional Court Procedure Act, one of the amendments seeks to set the quorum for presiding over a case at 10 justices, regardless of recusals or the number of justices currently sitting on the Constitutional Court.

The KMT said that the amendment would ensure broader consensus and prevent biased rulings. However, the EDU argued that it could "paralyze" the Constitutional Court, which currently has only eight justices.

The Legislative Yuan has yet to confirm nominees from ruling Democratic Progressive Party President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) to replace seven justices whose eight-year terms ended on Oct. 31.

As for the act governing the allocation of funding, the multi-version amendments supported by the KMT and TPP propose a redistribution of tax revenues, increasing the share allocated to local governments by decreasing the proportion retained by the central government.

The KMT argued that the amendments will provide local governments with more equitable and stable funding to address public needs. However, the EDU warned this could leave the central government unable to sustain key programs or fund essential expenses such as national defense and security.

The three amendments have cleared committee review and are set for a vote in a floor meeting on Friday. If they pass their third reading, they will advance to the president for promulgation and become law.

Thursday's march was part of a three-day series of events titled "Winter Bluebird in Taipei," organized by the two civic groups.

On Wednesday, a "Bluebird" rally was held in front of the KMT headquarters in Taipei to protest the legal amendments, with about 6,000 people participating.

In response to the rally, KMT spokesperson Crystal Yang (楊智伃) said that the party respects the right to assembly and free expression.