Executive Yuan Spokesperson Cheng Li-wun today indicated that the Executive Yuan will request the Legislature to reconsider its recently approved amendment to Article 99-1 of the Accounting Act in order to resolve an escalating controversy that has become a matter of public concern.
The legislators recently passed an amendment to the Accounting Act to decriminalize certain irregular uses of public funds by elected officials as well as professors and staff at colleges and academic institutions. However, the typographical omission of the word "faculty" from Article 99-1, which lawmakers failed to notice before the amendment passed a third reading, meant professors might still face prosecution for allegedly misusing receipts to claim government reimbursements after the amendment became law.
Cheng said that this morning President Ma Ying-jeou met with the heads of the executive and legislative branches to discuss the matter. "During the meeting, Premier Jiang Yi-huah indicated the Executive Yuan's willingness to veto the amendment because after careful consideration he has found it inappropriate and believes the Executive Yuan's countersignature of it would run counter to the public's expectations," she stated.
The Executive Yuan presented the following two reasons for this decision:
1. Under the amendment, professors who use public funds for private purposes would be held criminally responsible, while elected officials who do so would not be. This would present the Executive Yuan great difficulty of execution of the law, as stipulating different criminal standards for different groups for the same action violates the principle of fairness.
2. Regarding the omission of the word "faculty" from the amendment, although the competent authority, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, has presented its legal opinions on this matter, the judicial sector still holds different opinions. To clear the judicial sector's doubts, the amendment will need to be sent back to the Legislature for correction.
The Executive Yuan will convene a provisional Cabinet meeting on the morning of June 10 to pass the reconsideration proposal and send its decision to President Ma for approval, after which it will be sent to the Legislature for further action, said Cheng.
This action is in accordance with Article 3 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan), which states, "Should the Executive Yuan deem a statutory, budgetary, or treaty bill passed by the Legislative Yuan difficult to execute, the Executive Yuan may, with the approval of the president of the Republic and within 10 days of the bill's submission to the Executive Yuan, request the Legislative Yuan to reconsider the bill. The Legislative Yuan shall reach a resolution on the returned bill within 15 days after it is received. Should the Legislative Yuan be in recess, it shall convene of its own accord within seven days and reach a resolution within 15 days after the session begins. Should the Legislative Yuan not reach a resolution within the said period of time, the original bill shall become invalid. Should more than one-half of the total number of Legislative Yuan members uphold the original bill, the president of the Executive Yuan shall immediately accept the said bill."