Yesterday was the first meeting of the Procedure Committee for the next session of the Legislature. Given the recent shouting matches over the NUC, I would have bet good money on this descending into arguments, pushing, shouting and possibly (as before) bloodshed. If fact, it was one of the least confrontational meetings in years.

It seems that someone (Premier Su?) has decided that proposing bills with zero chance of progress is not the way to go and has opened up the possibility of actual progress in the Legislature:

With the Procedure Committee considering this session’s agenda for the first time, the DPP caucus decided to temporarily shelve controversial bills dealing with ill-gotten party assets, an arms deal with the United States and confirmation of Control Yuan member nominees.

The move was made, the DPP said, as a sign of good will to improve relations between the governing and opposition parties.

Instead, DPP legislators submitted 26 central government appropriations bills that were frozen by the pan-blue alliance in the last session. The bills later made it through the Procedure Committee and put on the agenda of related legislative committees for review, where their chances for passage remain uncertain.

The KMT reciprocated by not proposing a recall on President Chen.

So, does this imply everything will be sweetness and light in the Legislature from now on? Of course not. However, it does mean that the less controversial bills proposed by the DPP actually have a chance of a sensible hearing in the legislature – and that can only be good news.

Whoever is behind this new more conciliatory approach should be commended. It seems it is even affecting some of the appointees:

In another move to placate the opposition, the DPP caucus nominated Tsai Chi-fang (蔡啟芳) as one of the Procedure Committee’s three conveners.

DPP legislative whip Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) hoped that Tsai, one of the body’s characters known for his comic routines, would relieve the tense atmosphere of the committee and make it possible for the DPP to smoothly push through more bills this session.

Given that the legislators usually act like children, asking a clown to help run things makes perfect sense. (Update: And as Jason points out in the comments, he deserves the title ‘clown’)