Pan-blue camp to block special session

A chronology of special legislative sessions * DPP in power 1. Jan. 30-31, 2001; initiated by KMT caucus -- one resolution passed 2. June 26-27, 2001; initiated by Presidential Office -- six bills, budgets and rules passed 3. July 15-17, 2002; initiated by all legislative caucuses -- one budget passed 4. July 8-10, 2003; initiated by DPP, KMT caucuses - four bills, budgets and rules passed 5. Aug. 11-24, 2004; initiated by DPP, KMT caucuses - nine bills, budgets and rules passed. * KMT in power 1. July 18-19, 1951; initiated by KMT caucus -- one bill passed 2. July 15 to Aug. 7, 1952; initiated by KMT caucus -- three bills passed

The legislature is bracing itself for a showdown vote today after opposition parties yesterday opposed the convening of a special session to tackle six priority bills proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The opposition parties have instead proposed that the regular legislative session be brought forward from Sept. 13 to Sept. 6.

They also proposed to schedule additional legislative sessions to screen bills that the DPP considers to be urgent.

The parties made the proposals yesterday morning during cross-party talks called by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平). The meeting, attended by all five legislative caucuses, attempted to thrash out a preliminary consensus before today's meeting.

Calling parties "insincere," DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) expressed regret over yesterday's fruitless talks and said that it baffled him why the opposition parties "changed their position at the last minute."

"Speaker Wang ruled at the last cross-party negotiations that an informal plenary meeting would be held [today] and that the special session would be planned for Monday and Tuesday," he said. "We don't know why they reneged on their promise."

Lai that the opposition parties' proposal to push forward the regular legislative session was a tactic to deflect public criticism from its opposition to the special session.

Lai rebutted an accusation from the opposition parties that the DPP has been trying to "normalize" special legislative sessions since it came to power five years ago.

The reason that there were five provisional legislative sessions during the DPP administration, Lai said, only reflected the opposition parties' continuous boycott of government bills and their constant threat to close the door for negotiations.

Another DPP caucus whip, Jao Yung-ching (趙永清), agreed, and he made a last-ditch call to the opposition parties, asking them to vote in favor of the special session during today's meeting.

After yesterday's cross-party talks, People First Party caucus whip Hwang Yih-jiau (黃義交) said his caucus opposed the DPP's proposition because it did not want to see the DPP "normalize" extraordinary sessions. He also said that the DPP caucus was trying to use the proposed session as a means to pass the arms-procurement special budget.

Hwang expressed his caucus' opposition to earmarking a proposed eight-year, NT$80 billion (US$2.5 billion) flood-control plan as a special budget. The plan is one of the six priority bills that the DPP caucus hopes to raise during the proposed session.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), also an executive director of the KMT Central Policy Committee, said that although his caucus was opposed to a special session, it was willing to convene the next normal session a week earlier and extra sessions every two weeks.