The Cabinet today passed amendments to the Local Government Act, which if passed by the Legislative Yuan, would grant local self-governing body status to indigenous districts in special municipalities.
Greater autonomy is a matter close to the hearts of aboriginal communities and indigenous legislators, indicated Premier Jiang Yi-huah. The opinions of local governments are also very important to the Executive Yuan, which is why Minister without Portfolio Tsai Yu-ling had already convened two meetings for central ministries and local governments to exchange views.
Jiang hopes the legislation will be passed by next April so that the first election for indigenous district heads and councilors can be held concurrently with all other local elections in late 2014, as recommended by the Central Election Commission. The premier requested the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and the Council of Indigenous Peoples to proactively communicate with ruling and opposition legislative caucuses to complete the legal procedure as soon as possible.
To realize local autonomy in these indigenous districts, changes must also be made to related laws such as the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act and the Political Donations Act, said Premier Jiang. He instructed the MOI and relevant agencies to fast track these amendment procedures as well.
According to the MOI, the revisions to the Local Government Act were drafted in line with Additional Article 10 of the ROC Constitution, which stipulates that the state shall safeguard the status and political participation of the aborigines. The amendments also respond to the wishes of indigenous peoples to gain self-governance status and have more administrative control over their own communities.
The main points of the draft amendments are as follows:
1.Matters of self-government should be determined by the local self-governing bodies themselves, as stipulated by articles 18 to 20. Article 22, which empowers the central government to control the implementation of these matters in certain situations, should be deleted.
2.Procedure for submitting self-government regulations to competent authorities for recordation should be unified. (Article 27)
3.To prevent controversy, restrictions concerning the re-election of officials and the terms they serve should be adjusted. (Articles 55 to 57)
4.County/city governments should name their personnel, civil service ethics, and budget, accounting and statistics departments in accordance with the respective laws in those fields. Regulations on the names of county/city governments' branch offices and level-1 units of police and firefighting agencies should also be adjusted. (Article 62)
5.Disputes over authorities between counties/cities should be resolved by competent authorities at the central level. (Article 77)
6.Regulations on suspending an elected official or relieving them of their duties or post should be amended. New provisions should also be added concerning the effective date of such suspension or relief, as well as the appointment of an acting official by the competent authority. (Articles 78, 79 and 82)
7.Indigenous districts of special municipalities should be granted the status of local self-government bodies. Related provisions concerning the self-governance of these bodies should also be added. (New Articles 83-2 to 83-8, Articles 87 and 88)