Taiwan reviews legal change making martial law harder to declare
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The proposal, put forward by the opposition Kuomintang, will be reviewed by the legislature’s foreign affairs and defence committee.
PHOTO: AFP
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TAIPEI – Taiwan’s legislators are set to review a proposed legal change that would make it more difficult for the president to declare martial law, with lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) advocating the amendment after the shock emergency declaration in South Korea earlier in December.
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu announced on Dec 13 that lawmakers would discuss the change, which would require Taiwan’s president to get the legislature to ratify martial law within 24 hours of declaring it.
The law currently gives the president a month to do so, and has not been amended for 75 years.
The proposal, put forward by the KMT, will be reviewed by the legislature’s foreign affairs and defence committee.
While the Democratic Progressive Party’s Lai Ching-te won Taiwan’s presidency in elections in January, his party lost its majority in the legislature.
That has allowed the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party to work together to push through legislation aimed at curbing presidential powers, moves that have fuelled political tensions and even led to widespread demonstrations. Bloomberg
