KMT referendum bills placed on agenda at Legislature Friday

Taipei, May 6 (CNA) Two Kuomintang (KMT) referendum proposals on "opposing the abolition of the death penalty" and "opposing martial law" have been placed on the agenda of the legislative plenary session scheduled for Friday for discussion before being put to a vote.

The agenda-setting motion was passed Tuesday by a vote during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Procedure Committee in which the KMT and the smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPP) hold a majority, with ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers voting against.

One of the KMT proposals calls for a national referendum against the abolition of the death penalty, which is legal in Taiwan though rarely enforced. The other asks for a vote in opposition to martial law in Taiwan after President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) in March proposed reinstating military trials.

Martial law in Taiwan ran from 1949 to 1987 during a period of KMT authoritarian rule prior to Taiwan's democratization, which began in the 1980s.

The opposition's push for the two proposals on Tuesday came after the expiration of the one-month negotiation period required for bills involving interparty disputes before proceeding to a second reading.

On March 25, the KMT and TPP jointly moved the proposals directly to a second reading without committee review, following an unsuccessful attempt by the DPP to block their inclusion on the legislative agenda.

Meanwhile, the DPP proposed a motion during the Procedural Committee meeting asserting that the March 25 legislative session was illegal and asking that 62 lawmakers from the KMT, TPP and independents be sent to the Discipline Committee for violating statutory meeting procedures and disrupting order at the Legislature.

The DPP proposal was voted down by the KMT and TPP legislators and not included in the agenda for discussion.