Taiwan's Democracy is not Dead:Citizens continue the fight to safeguard democracy

4pm, 5/24/2024

Today (24th), the Economic Democracy Union has called for the third assembly of self-governing Taiwanese citizens at the Legislative Yuan. Currently, more than 30,000 Taiwanese citizens have gathered to protest against the parliamentary expansion bill, which has caused significant harm to the rights and interests of the people. The convener of the Taiwan Economic Democracy Union think tank, Lai Chung-Chiang, and Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Kuan-tse have proposed four ways for the Taiwanese people to defend democracy if the bill passes its third reading. They urge everyone to persist and proclaim that "Taiwanese democracy is not dead; the citizens will continue to defend it."

Lai Chung-Chiang emphasized that even if the Kuomintang and the People’s Party join forces to push through this bill in a rough manner, Taiwan's democracy is not truly dead. There remain avenues for continued effort within Taiwanese society, and the citizens will undoubtedly persist in their defense.

Lai Chung-Chiang suggested that the first solution is for the Executive Yuan to propose a reconsideration. The trade services agreement from that year only gained increasing public awareness about its issues after more than six months of hearings. However, in recent days, the Kuomintang has planned to launch a blitzkrieg on May 17. Fortunately, due to the voices of the citizens, more and more people have become aware of the issues with the provisions. Besides gathering at the Legislative Yuan, actions have also been taken in places such as Hualien and Taichung. It is precisely these actions that have had an effect.

Lai Chung-Chiang urged that if there is an opportunity for reconsideration in the future, he hopes that citizens across the regions will use various methods to make the Kuomintang legislators in their constituencies aware of the public's concerns regarding this law. He anticipates that supporters of the new political People's Party will make their greatest efforts to communicate with the central committee of the People's Party and its eight legislators.

Lai Chung-Chiang also believes that many provisions of this law that have already been passed present clear concerns of unconstitutionality and that a constitutional lawsuit should be pursued against this bill. Lawyer Lai Chung-Chiang explained that this is the second method of resolution, wherein the Executive Yuan or one-quarter of the legislators have the authority, according to constitutional litigation regulations, to initiate a constitutional review of the legislation. He urges for a constitutional lawsuit to be filed against this evidently unconstitutional bill.

Hsu Kuan-tse stated that the third solution is a public referendum. According to the Referendum Act, people can petition for a referendum on laws passed by the Legislative Yuan. If the Blue and White parties persist in their course and go against public opinion, transitioning to direct democracy through a public referendum is a feasible path.

Hsu Kuan-tse stated that the fourth solution is to recall legislators who abuse their power. For those unscrupulous legislators who have clearly acted against public opinion in this legislative session, citizens have the legal right to demand a recall. However, we must also remind everyone that because Kuomintang members wish to evade legislative oversight, there are already legislators who have jointly proposed an amendment to the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act, changing the regulations from allowing recall petitions to be filed one year after a legislator takes office to further restricting it to only allowing the commencement of petition signing one year after a legislator takes office.

The Taiwan Economic Democracy Union calls on the Taiwanese people to continue paying attention to the latest developments in the Legislative Yuan. Even if the Legislative Yuan passes the third reading today, there are still numerous civic actions that can turn the tide. We invite all citizens to remain engaged with the activities of the Legislative Yuan and to persist in defending Taiwan's democracy.

Date: Friday, May 24, 2024, 4:00 PM

Location: Under the Pedestrian Overpass on Qingdao East Road (Main Stage)

Commentators: Lai Chung-Chiang | Convener of the Economic Democracy Union Think Tank Hsu Kuan-tse｜Deputy Secretary-General of the Economic Democracy Union

Media Contact: Candia Tong 0965605503