‘STATE VIOLENCE’:DPP legislators called the law a holdover from the Martial Law era, while a KMT lawmaker hinted that changes could make the nation more chaotic

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 18, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

Lawmakers and Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) debated amendments to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) yesterday, with a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker calling for it to be abolished altogether.

DPP Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) re-proposed amendments to the act this legislative session, saying she had proposed them in the previous legislature, but they did not pass a final reading due to a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) boycott.

“We all know the law was established in 1988 as one of the three laws for national security [with the other two being the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法)] for the government to retain its power over the people and restrict the public’s basic human rights after martial law was lifted” in 1987, Cheng said.

“The Assembly and Parade Act, instituted with a Martial Law-period mindset, contradicts the Constitution, which guarantees people’s rights to assembly and demonstration,” she said.     [FULL  STORY]