Political stalemate stalls casino legalization in Taiwan

It has been reported that a committee essential to the passage of the casino bill has no plans to meet before the end of the legislative session in December.  Gaming legislation is in the list of the Premier's top 45 priority bills, but a political stalemate is causing delays since the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party submitted a rival bill in June 2013 

that mirrors the main bill but that would also allow for the establishment of gaming on Taiwan proper, probably in special economic zones. This competes with the bill that has the backing of President Ma Ying-jeou's government - also KMT.  To complicate matters further, President Ma recently plummeted in opinion polls over a scandal involving an attempt to oust a well-liked legislative leader over allegations of misconduct.  Prosecutors are in turn accused of acquiring evidence through illegal wire tapping.  Analyst Benson Huang at Horizon Securities said, "without Mr Wang as the go-between for the ruling and the opposition parties, the legislature will fall into a state of chaos for a little while but after the temporary turmoil subsides, things will soon pick up."

 

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