TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Legislative Yuan on Friday passed the third reading of amendments to memorial and public holiday regulations, adding five new public national holidays.
Labor Day will be upgraded, while four additional public holidays have been added: Little Lunar New Year’s Eve, Confucius’ Birthday, Retrocession Day (Battle of Guningtou), and Constitution Day, per CNA. The Lunar New Year holiday will now have at least seven consecutive days off, with a maximum of 10.
The Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee passed a draft version of the bill on March 31. However, ruling and opposition party lawmakers could not reach a consensus on which dates should be designated as holidays.
Key provisions were reserved for cross-party negotiations, which took place on April 30 and Thursday, but failed to yield an agreement. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) ruled that the bill be handled according to procedural rules.
On Thursday, with the KMT and TPP caucuses having the numerical advantage in the legislature, the bill passed its third reading. Taiwan currently has 11 national public holidays, and the private sector holiday, Labor Day.
This law adds four new holidays, while Labor Day, previously only a holiday for workers, has been elevated to a nationwide public holiday. This brings the total number of public national holidays in Taiwan to 16.
The implementation date of the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays will be the date it is promulgated by the president. If timely promulgation occurs, three of the new holidays will be observed for the remainder of the year, namely Confucius' Birthday, Retrocession Day, and Constitution Day.
Newly Added National Holidays:
1. Labor Day (May 1)
2. Little Lunar New Year’s Eve (day before Lunar New Year’s Eve)
3. Confucius' Birthday (Sept. 28)
4. Retrocession Day, Battle of Guningtou (Oct. 25)
5. Constitution Day (Dec. 25)
