Print

Mail

wiki links

Wang sees need for extra session

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators cut open a lock placed on the entrance to the legislative floor Friday night. The lock was placed on the door by Democratic Progressive Party legislators to block Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng from entering the legislature and conduct a vote on an amendment to the Organic Law of the Central Election Commission. PHOTO: FANG PIN-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES

Following the pushing, shoving and shoe-throwing on the legislative floor on Friday, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday said a cross-party negotiation session could be held on Jan. 29 to determine whether an extra legislative session might be held to review the central government's budget.

If any of the party caucuses file an application for an extended session, Wang told reporters yesterday that he would convene a discussion with all party caucuses at 10am on Jan. 29.

If the caucuses approved the application, an extra session would be held from Jan. 30 to Jan. 31 to discuss the budget bill, he added.

The extra legislative session is necessary for the budget bill to be passed, after the legislature concluded its latest session early yesterday morning without passing any bills.

The legislature ground to a halt amid scuffles between legislators on both sides on Friday, the last day of the session.

This marked the first time in the nation's history that the central government's fiscal budget had remained stuck in the legislature after the fiscal year had begun.

Legislative rules sate that the legislature may resume its session at the request of the speaker or at the request of no less than one fourth of its 219 legislators.

Wang said yesterday that the hold up of the budget bill would not freeze subsidies to farmers and senior citizens.

Friday's legislative session was paralyzed as a result of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) giving priority to an amendment to the Organic Law of the Central Election Commission (CEC, 中央選舉委員會組織法), but the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wanted to review the budget bill first.

The KMT supported selecting CEC members according to the ratio of legislative seats each political party holds. However, the DPP accused the KMT of attempting to control the commission in a bid to avoid a referendum on recovering the KMT's stolen assets.

Friday's legislative session ended at midnight, after a clash broke out among the dozens of lawmakers who had occupied the podium since Friday morning.

Wang was almost hit by shoes thrown by DPP Legislator Wang Shu-hui (王淑慧) when he was at the podium, surrounded by legislators of the ruling and opposition camps.

Two doors to the legislative chamber were locked by DPP legislators when Wang Jin-pyng left the room during a break.

"DPP legislators have prevented the legislative session from proceeding by resorting to physical wrestling several times during the current legislative session," Wang Jin-pyng said while concluding the session after midnight. "This is the main reason why the legislative proceeding has been paralyzed. I believe the public will pass its own judgment."

Wang Jin-pyng, a member of the KMT, said the lawmakers' conduct could be viewed as "coercion" and was "excessive."

"This caused serious damage to democracy and the dignity of the legislature. This should be condemned," he added.

Meanwhile, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday urged the legislature to convene an extraordinary session to review and hopefully approve the government's annual budget as soon as possible.

"I have met up with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng in person this morning and asked him for a favor to allow this to happen," Su told reporters yesterday afternoon.

Su went on to condemn KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

"I did not see Ma do anything or try to coordinate with KMT lawmakers while the legislature was idle," he said.

Cabinet Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) emphasized the impact of the delay of the government's annual budget proposal and said GDP would drop 0.2 percent every month if the proposal remained frozen in the legislature.

DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday said that Ma had deliberately paralyzed the legislature for fear that a referendum on the KMT's stolen assets could be approved by the CEC.

He accused Ma of failing to put the nation's interests and the public's well-being ahead of the KMT's interests, and urged the public to examine whether Ma and the KMT genuinely wanted to serve the people.

He added that the legislature's failure to accomplish anything at the end of the current legislative session meant that the NT$2.1 billion (US$64 million) budget spent on the session over the past six months had been a complete waste of resources.

Ma blamed the DPP for the problems in the legislative session including the legislative floor drama on Friday and demanded that the DPP take responsibility for the stalled bills.

Expressing his regret over the outcome of the events on Friday, Ma said that the KMT would not be opposed to the idea of holding an extraordinary session.

"This is a shameful phase in the history of the Constitution. The DPP prevented the bills from being passed with violent acts and it needs to shoulder all responsibilities," Ma said.

Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih and Jimmy Chuang
This story has been viewed 2250 times.