Political parties agree to send special defense bill to committee

Taipei, Feb. 24 (CNA) Ruling and opposition parties agreed Tuesday to place the Executive Yuan's draft special act on defense procurement on the Legislative Yuan's March 6 plenary agenda and refer it to committee for review.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-supported bill, along with other related special act drafts not yet submitted, will be sent to the Foreign and National Defense Committee and the Finance Committee for joint review together with the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) caucus version, and no reconsideration motions will be proposed.

The move came the same day the 5th session of the 11th Legislative Yuan opened, with Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) announcing a recess for negotiations at the start of the plenary session at 10 a.m.

The day before, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) met with the heads of the five branches of Taiwan's constitutional system, including Legislative Speaker Han, at a tea party hosted at the Presidential Office.

Han said afterward that he had invited Lai to answer questions at the Legislative Yuan, and that Lai "gladly" accepted.

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said Tuesday that after the Lunar New Year, "being able to take this step together is very important," and that whether it is a big or small step, he "very much welcomes" it.

Cho added that leading national defense and national security should be entrusted to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), the armed forces and the Executive Yuan, and that it is "not appropriate for opposition parties to lead this matter."