Approval of Blue, White and Black Box raids on drug-driving laws and amendments. DPP: Showing off and trampling on the proceedings

The Blue and White legislators took advantage of their seat advantage in the Legislative Yuan today (30th) to force the third reading of the "Amendment to the Criminal Law of the Republic of China", which clearly stipulates that repeat drug driving offenders who cause death may be punished with the death penalty and a fine of not more than 10 million yuan. DPP spokesperson Lin Chuyin emphasized that the DPP has always maintained a "zero tolerance" attitude towards drug driving and firmly supports severe penalties. However, major criminal law amendments are related to the people's rights and the foundation of the rule of law, and should never be reduced to a political show where the majority of Congress brutally suppresses and tramples on the proceedings.

Lin Chuyin recalled the timetable of the law amendment and pointed out that in order to effectively curb the harm of drug driving, the Executive Yuan proposed a draft law amendment as early as June this year. In July, it was submitted to the Legislative Yuan Judicial and Legal Affairs Committee for substantive review. The government-opposition negotiation was just completed on Wednesday (28th). However, on the eve of today's parliamentary vote, the Kuomintang and the People's Party suddenly launched a new version with "no discussion and no consultation". Even the DPP legislators did not receive the terms until just before the vote. She criticized that the Blue and White camp used the numerical superiority to force a vote without giving all parties time to fully review and substantive discussions. This legislative process is completely unacceptable.

Lin Chuyin continued to point out that supporting increased criminal penalties does not mean that they can conduct black-box raids and skip deliberations. She emphasized that the DPP supports the version proposed by the Executive Yuan, which has undergone rigorous review by the committee and consensus reached through negotiations between the government and the opposition; this version takes into account the proportion of punishment, the principle of commensurate culpability and judicial practice when increasing criminal liability. She sternly criticized the revision of the criminal law as a matter of great importance, and a serious legal issue must not be reduced to a political statement among political parties competing to add weight.

Lin Chuyin further stated that combating drug-driving crimes and protecting the safety of passers-by require rigorous and complete laws, as well as responsible and testable legislative procedures. If the Blue and White camp is serious about preventing drug driving, it should openly allow different versions of the revised law to be fully tested by society and legal professionals, instead of temporarily switching versions on the day of the vote and forcing Congress and the people to pay the bill.

Finally, Lin Chuyin reiterated that the DPP's position on severely punishing drug-impaired driving has always been firm, but the majority of seats in Congress should not be used as a weapon to undermine democratic deliberation; the opposition party should respect due legislative procedures and truly take responsibility for the soundness of the country's rule of law and the quality of legislation.