Taipei Times
Date: Apr 28, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
Civil activists yesterday announced plans to hold local forums to pressure legislators on a draft
Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang, left, and several activists yesterday call for an open debate with the Democratic Progressive Party on its draft cross-strait agreement oversight act in front of the party’s headquarters in Taipei. Photo: CNA
bill to supervise cross-strait agreements, demanding that any review of the draft legislation be put on hold until after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) takes office.
About 10 protesters from the Economic Democracy Union, Democracy Tautin and other groups gathered in front of DPP headquarters in Taipei, calling on the party to remember the Sunflower movement, as the Legislative Yuan prepares to begin a review of a bill imposing new regulatory standards on negotiations with China.
“We should have come to DPP headquarters to ‘pound the table’ long ago, but we are not here to pound the table today,” Democracy Tautin general coordinator June Lin (林倢) said, referring to statements by Tsai that activists should not hesitate to engage in “table-pounding” if they feel the government is ignoring their views.
Activists last week promised to take action if the DPP refused to agree to talks and open debate over the supervisory bill, questioning the DPP draft legislation’s use of the word “area” to refer to Taiwan, as well as the exemption of the service trade agreement from the new requirements.
Forums announced yesterday are to target DPP members of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee — which is responsible for the supervisory bill’s initial review — demanding that legislators pass amendments to the legislation to reflect their demands. [FULL STORY]
