Taiwan passes new law adding 4 additional national holidays

Taipei, May 9 (CNA) The Legislative Yuan on Friday passed new legislation granting people in Taiwan four additional national holidays and extending Labor Day to include public sector employees, who are currently excluded.

The additional holidays under the new law include the day before Lunar New Year's Eve, Confucius' Birthday on Sept. 28 (celebrated as Teachers' Day in Taiwan), Taiwan Retrocession Day and the anniversary of the Battle of Guningtou on Oct. 25, and Constitution Day on Dec. 25.

Meanwhile, Labor Day will now apply to people working in all sectors and not just those in private businesses, under the "Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays."

This new law supersedes the existing regulations for the implementation of commemorative and festival holidays, which are administered by the Ministry of the Interior.

With the day before Lunar New Year's Eve designated a national holiday, the Lunar New Year break now includes five national days off, meaning that the holiday period could be at least seven days including the weekend.

The new law further stipulates that instead of the current system where the Council of Indigenous Peoples designates one day off for traditional Indigenous festivals, tribes can now have three days off based on their own rituals.

The legislation will come into effect as soon as it is promulgated by the president, meaning that people in Taiwan could see three additional holidays in the second half of this year on Sept. 28, Oct. 25, and Dec. 25.

The Legislature's Internal Administration Committee passed a draft proposal on the holiday regulations on March 31. Since then, however, lawmakers across party lines have failed to reach consensus on which dates should be commemorated or designated public holidays.

Subsequent cross-party negotiations held on April 30 and May 8 also failed to bear fruit.

On Friday, the main opposition Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party used their majority to pass the bill they proposed, with a 57-50 vote on the legislative floor.