Legislature Under Occupation: Speaker and Legislators Cannot Sit Idly By

Legislature Under Occupation:
Speaker and Legislators Cannot Sit Idly By
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China)
A Translation
March 21, 2014

Summary: The ruling and opposition party legislators feel little sense of responsibility. They should be ashamed of themselves for allowing the legislature to be occupied. If Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng still has any dignity left to speak of, he should immediately order ruling and opposition party legislators back to the negotiating table. He should see that negotiations over the Cross Strait Agreement in Trade in Services resume. The police did not allow the legislature to be occupied. These derelict legislators did. They have the responsibility to regain control of the legislature from the students.

Full text below:

Students opposed to the "Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services" continue to occupy the Legislative Yuan. Outside, expressions of support are growing louder. Viewed from without, the fear is not that the situation will get out of control. The fear is that no peaceful resolution will be found. Speaker of the Legislature Wang Jin-pying and ruling and opposition party legislators are sitting on the walls outside the legislature. They must resume negotiations. They must regain control of the legislature from the students.

The students have been protesting for two days. For the most part, they have been orderly. This is the biggest difference between them and most political party and social movement protests. The problem with the student movement is that it is easy to start but difficult to stop. Especially since the 500 or so students currently occupying the legislature belong to different schools and come from different regions. Several leaders are on the scene. But it is difficult to say whether these hundreds of demonstrators share the same goals. Over the past two days they issued three demands, which abruptly turned into four demands. As we can see, the participants are indecisive.

The incident has attracted international notice. There are two reasons for this. One. The halls that the students have occupied represent the sovereign authority of a democratic legislature. This is a first for the ROC. It is also rare in other nations. A recent example is the occupation of the Ukrainian Parliament in February by protesting militants. But Ukranian society and democracy are not as mature and stable as the ROC's.

Two. The proximate cause was last year's decision by the ruling and opposition parties to conduct a line item review and line item vote on the Cross Strait Agreement in Trade in Services. During the process, the DPP deliberate dragged its feet. During the Joint Legislative Committee Meeting, the KMT sent the Cross Strait Agreement in Trade in Services to committee. This provoked public anti-agreement sentiment. This must be properly resolved. Otherwise future agreements with other nations or regional economic organizations will be affected by this incident and progress will be difficult.

The student occupation of the legislature held up a mirror. One side reflected government dereliction. The other side reflected democratic loss of control. The Legislative Yuan is the symbol of the nation's sovereignty. It is the highest representative of the public will. But in recent years, it has often solved problems through backroom deals. Legislative review is invariably plagued by obstructionism, foot-dragging, and deal-making. Majority rule and public consultation under democracy are no more. Bills that reach the Legislative Yuan fall into an black hole, never to see the light of day. The executive branch is afraid of offending the Legislative Yuan. Most of the time it stews in its own juices. This truly is government dereliction.

Consider the Cross Strait Agreement in Trade in Services. It was submitted to the Legislative Yuan in June last year. There it sat for a full nine months before being submitted for committee review. One may support the bill or oppose it. But is this any way to treat such a serious matter? In fact, the ruling and opposition parties had no interest whatsoever in substantive review. The DPP scheduled the review only so that it could filibuster it. The KMT scheduled the review only so it could get it out of the way. The two parties turned the legislature into the colosseum or circus. Under the circumstances, the consequences of submitting the Cross Strait Agreement in Trade in Services for committee review were totally forseeable.

That of course does not mean the students had a right to occupy the Legislative Yuan. Democracies generate legislators through periodic elections. The legislature is inviolable. Not because individual legislators are inviolable, but because the legislature is a body that exercises sovereignty on behalf of the people. The legislature symbolizes the will of the people. Unless the legislature uses democracy to destroy democracy, and illegally alters its democratic institutions, then forcing one's way into the legislature and occupying it shames the nation and shames democracy. Are 5.86 million votes that elected over 60 KMT legislators unrepresentative? If they are not, then how representative are 500 students?

Not everyone agrees with the Cross Strait Agreement in Trade in Services. The review process may have been flawed. But opposition to the agreement is merely one of many dissenting views, with no greater validity than any other. Furthermore, the Cross Strait Agreement in Trade in Services has only been submitted for committee review. It has yet to be finalized. It has yet to get on track. Allegations of "anti-democratic" and "black box operations" are clearly exaggerations. The student occupation of the Legislative Yuan was clearly an overreaction. Is this not a case of democratic loss of control?

The students are not the ones who must be condemned. Those who must be condemned are the ruling and opposition party politicians sitting on the wall outside. They used the students as pawns. Consider the ruling and opposition party attitudes. President Ma said he "respected the autonomy of the legislature," then passed the buck to the legislature. Wang Jin-pyng pontificated about "protecting the students " and "public safety," then passed the buck back to the executive. DPP legislators  furnished the students with weapons and provisions. They helped them prepare for a protracted battle. The Green Camp princes chuckled as they used these students as cannon fodder. They were only too happy to reap the windfall. Are any of these people treating student discontent seriously?

The ruling and opposition party legislators feel little sense of responsibility. They should be ashamed of themselves for allowing the legislature to be occupied. If Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng still has any dignity left to speak of, he should immediately order ruling and opposition party legislators back to the negotiating table. He should see that negotiations over the Cross Strait Agreement in Trade in Services resume. The police did not allow the legislature to be occupied. These derelict legislators did. They have the responsibility to regain control of the legislature from the students.

國會失守，議長和朝野立委不可袖手旁觀
【聯合報╱社論】
2014.03.21 03:49 am

「反服貿」學生「占領立法院」行動持續進行，院外和各地的聲援也在擴大。在外界看來，值得擔心的倒不是此一行動會演成失控，而是有沒有辦法找到讓此事和平落幕的途徑。就這點而言，目前在場外作壁上觀的王金平院長和朝野立委，有必要重新進行協商，把國會議事權從學生手中討回來。

觀察這兩天學生的抗爭，多半能維持基本的秩序，這和一般政黨動員的社會群眾大不相同。但學生運動的問題，往往在容易發動而難以收場；尤其，目前的占領議場的五百多名學生分別來自不同學校及不同社團，儘管現場有數名領導者，但很難說這數百人對示威目標都具有共識；這兩天他們忽而提出三訴求，忽而又改成四訴求，可以看出參與者的舉棋不定。

此事引起國際矚目，主因有二：其一，是學生們攻占的是代表民主國家「國會主權」的議事殿堂，這不僅是台灣首見，在其他國家也極少見。最近一次例子，是今年二月烏克蘭國會在示威中遭到武裝分子占領；但烏克蘭無論社會的穩定度或民主的成熟度，都難與台灣相提並論。

其二，事件的導火線是朝野去年協商時決定「逐條審查、逐條表決兩岸服貿協議」，民進黨在過程中不斷刻意拖延，國民黨則在全院聯席會發動突襲將服貿送出委員會，引爆「反服貿」民眾的怒火。若此事無法妥善解決，未來台灣與任何其他國家洽簽協議或加入區域經濟組織，都將受到此一事件的影響而難有進展。

毫無疑問，學生占領立法院就像一面鏡子，一面反映的是「政府的失能」，另一面反射的則是「民主的失控」。立法院是「國家主權」象徵，代表最高民意，但台灣近年來頻頻透過「密室協商」解決問題，法案審理始終充滿杯葛、拖延和交易，民主政治應有的多數統治、大眾諮商功能則蕩然無存。許多法案到了立法院，就如同進入無底洞，從此不見天日；而行政部門唯恐得罪立院，多半敢怒不敢言。這確實是政府的失能。

以服貿協議為例，早在去年六月即已送進立院，拖了整整九個月，才排進委員會審查；不管是支持或反對，這真的有把服貿當回事嗎？事實上，朝野對「實質審查」根本毫無興趣，民進黨排案只為了杯葛，國民黨排案只為了早日交差了事，兩黨把議場當成鬥獸場、馬戲團。在這種情況下，服貿案趁亂送出委員會，是可以預期的結果。

儘管如此，這也不表示學生占領立院是理直氣壯。民主國家經由定期選舉產生立委，國會凜然不可侵犯，不是因個別立委如何了得，而是因為這個機構代表人民行使主權，國會象徵的就是民意。除非國會「以民主埋葬民主」，做出違法修改民主體制的決定，否則群眾強行進入國會占領議場，就是羞辱國家、羞辱民主的失格舉動。試問：如果五百八十六萬張選票選出的六十多席國民黨立委沒有代表性，那麼，區區五百名學生的代表性又在哪裡？

此次服貿協議的內容或許無法讓所有人感到認同，案件審議的程序也有瑕疵，但「反服貿」畢竟只是各種不同主張中的一種，並非超乎其他主張。更何況，服貿協議只是「送出委員會」，尚未定案，也並未上路，要指誰「反民主」、「黑箱」，顯然言過其實。反對學生透過「占領立法院」來宣揚自己的主張，違反了比例原則，這難道不是民主的失控？

但應該譴責的不是學生，而是在那裡作壁上觀的朝野政治人物，因為他們把學生當成棋子。且看朝野各方的姿態，馬總統聲稱「尊重國會自主」，把問題推給國會；王金平高談「保護學生」、「社會治安問題」，再把問題丟回行政部門。而民進黨立委則全力為學生提供軍火和糧草，幫他們作長期抗戰之準備，天王們則輕鬆笑看學生充當綠軍的馬前卒，樂得坐收漁利。這些人有認真看待學生的不滿嗎？

如果朝野立委還有一點責任意識，他們應該為國會的淪陷感到羞愧；如果王金平覺得議長職務還有一點尊嚴可期，他應該立即召集朝野立委重新協商，讓服貿重新回到審議的軌道。丟掉立法院的不是警察，而是這些失職立委，他們有責任把議場從學生手中要回來。