Virus Outbreak: Presidential Office says no need for emergency decreeBy Su Yung-yao, Chen Yun and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerThe Presidential Office yesterday declined calls from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) politicians for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to declare a state of emergency over the COVID-19 situation, saying that any contingencies can be addressed by existing legislation. Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang talks to reporters at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei on Sept. 25 last year. The Presidential Office said emergency decrees should only be issued in cases of national emergencies or during a financial tumult that would otherwise lack a legal basis. Under the Constitution, any emergency decree issued by the president must be ratified by the Legislative Yuan, the office said. Since martial law was lifted in 1987, a state of emergency has only be declared once, after the 921 Earthquake in 1999, Chang said.

Source: Taipei Times March 18, 2020 15:56 UTC