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Editorial: Don't thank Ma if budget bill passes

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential nominee Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) released a statement on Monday suggesting that the KMT would show good will in connection with the impasse over the central government budget bill and the Organic Law of the Central Election Commission (中選會組織法) by allowing the budget bill to pass. His announcement was a capitulation meant to stop the hemorrhaging of political goodwill.

If Ma had taken any other course, he would have had to pay the price in next year's presidential election for the foolish actions of pan-blue legislators.

The KMT finally appears to understand the obligations that political parties and legislators have and is now willing to first examine the budget bill instead of linking it to passage of the commission bill.

The budget bill affects every national construction project, and is important to taxpayers' wallets. Therefore, examining the budget bill is one of the most critical functions of a legislature. The commission bill, in contrast, deals with whether the rules of the political game are fair.

For more than six months the pan-blue camp has mistakenly tried to link the two. Recognizing this error was long overdue.

According to Article 51 of the Budget Act (預算法), the budget plan is supposed to be reviewed and passed by the legislature by December of the previous year. The delay in the budget for fiscal 2007 has violated the law and the Constitution. The lack of communication and negotiation between the ruling and opposition parties and the inability to resolve the conflict is the result of an odd democratic system. Because both government and opposition parties have ignored the national interest and public welfare, the government cannot operate properly. No wonder local media have taken such a negative, if exaggerated, view of Taiwan's economic future.

The KMT thought it was clever to use its legislative majority to hold the budget plan hostage to force the legislature to review the commission bill. The Democratic Progressive Party, however, is also guilty of paralyzing the legislature to prevent a review of the bill.

If the legislative deadlock is not resolved before the end of this legislative session on Friday -- and if no extraordinary session is held to pass the bill -- then next fall lawmakers will be faced with having to review and pass both the 2007 budget and the 2008 budget. This would put both the government and the legislature in an untenable situation.

The 2007 budget bill has been stuck in the legislature for more than 190 days, delaying national infrastructure projects and tarnishing the national image. It is time to end the farce. The opposition should unconditionally review and pass the budget bill.

There are no winners or losers here. The longer the deadlock, the greater the losses on all sides. The deadlock has resulted in increasing public criticism, and the opposition camp must take the majority of the blame for this. Ma should not be seeking to claim credit for resolving a situation that he previously said he had no control over.
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