《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 KMT legislators say DPP ‘conspiring’ with activists

By Lii Wen / Staff reporter

A meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee descended into chaos yesterday, after Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） legislators accused their Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） colleagues of “conspiring” with activist groups to disrupt a committee meeting a day earlier.

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The KMT legislative caucus said it would file a disciplinary report on DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao （姚文智）, as it accused him of neglecting his duties as committee convener on Wednesday during a legislative review of the Referendum Act （公民投票法）.

They said that Yao’s decision to allow Academia Sinica researcher Huang Kuo-chang （黃國昌） to attend the meeting as an observer threatened the personal safety of KMT Legislator Chang Ching-chung （張慶忠）, with Huang launching a series of verbal attacks at Chang after the meeting.

Wearing a face mask in a gesture of protest, Chang yesterday demanded an explanation from Yao, saying he was extremely frightened by Huang and was unable to sleep because of the incident.

“It was a nightmare I will never forget for as long as I live,” Chang said. “I woke up more than 20 times throughout the night.”

He said that Yao should not have allowed interest groups to attend the meeting, adding that he was blocked from entering the legislative compound by scores of protesters outside.

He added that Huang and other activist leaders of the Sunflower movement should not have been granted access, since they have a “record of violations of the Assembly and Parade Act （集會遊行法）.”

After the meeting on Wednesday, an angry Huang rushed to the front of the conference room to confront Chang.

He accused Chang of deliberately stalling progress on the review of the Referendum Act with long-winded comments unrelated to the bill — such as remarks likening himself to Chinese reformer Liang Qichao （梁啟超）.

He said that Chang was the “shame of parliament.”

Yao yesterday said that Huang applied to attend the meeting through legal channels, adding that Huang did not disrupt the meeting, but only voiced his grievances after it ended.

He said he did not anticipate Huang’s actions and denied “conspiring” with activist groups.

It was “regretful” that Chang had faced such circumstances, Yao added.

Although the committee was originally scheduled to review an amendment to the Housing Act （住宅法） — which would have addressed highly anticipated reforms to public housing — the meeting was halted abruptly after KMT legislators petitioned to cancel the meeting in protest against the incident on Wednesday.

DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi （李俊俋） accused Chang of deliberately stalling review of the Housing Act, which provoked further angry remarks from Chang.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES