‘TAILORED’:
The amendments to the ill-gotten assets act turn state property into the private holdings of specific political groups, a Cabinet spokesperson said

The Cabinet said it would “seek lawful and constitutional remedies” over amendments to three laws passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday.

It issued the statement late on Friday night after the 113-seat legislative body, in which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers hold a combined majority, passed amendments to the Act Governing the Settlement of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例), the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) and the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法) that, respectively, no longer recognize the China Youth Corps (CYC) as a KMT affiliate, extending license holder reassessments and classifying aides’ pay as lawmaker subsidies.

Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) and the Cabinet plans to take legal and constitutional measures to seek redress as she criticized the legislature for failing to review the central government’s annual budget, but “passed bills that undermine press freedom and violate democratic constitutional principles.”

Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times

The amendment to the Satellite Broadcasting Act “is clearly tailored to a specific case, with political agendas interfering in independent agencies,” she said.

Regarding the asset act, Lee said that since its enactment in 2016, the act has passed constitutional review by the Judicial Yuan, including the recognition of KMT-affiliated organizations such as the CYC.

The amendments not only allow public assets to continue being seized, but also turn state property into the private holdings of specific political groups, openly defying the principles of free democracy and constitutional order, while hindering the nation’s efforts to implement transitional justice, she said.

As for the amendments to the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan, Lee criticized the passage as rushed, saying that the amendment process bypassed proper democratic procedures and lacked meaningful debate.

The amendments mischaracterize certain expenses as “legislator subsidy costs,” distorting the nature of public assistant salaries, she said, adding that this could create loopholes in the criminal justice system.