Currently, CEC members are nominated by the premier and appointed by the president.
The KMT says the change is necessary to remove the "partisan bias" in the CEC.
The DPP, on the other hand, accuses the KMT of attempting to take control of the commission in order to thwart a referendum on recovering the party's stolen assets.
Lawmakers on both sides yesterday refused to budge on their stances regarding the CEC.
The KMT stuck to its view that the CEC bill would have to be reviewed ahead of the budget.
The DPP said the KMT was holding the budget "hostage" in an effort to force the amendment through the legislature.
"I call on lawmakers to calm down during the recess period and think about how to settle disagreements in the next legislative session," Wang said.
The response to the news that lawmakers had given up on the extra session was swift and predictably partisan.
DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (
He said the KMT's focus on the CEC amendment had resulted in the breakdown of cross-party negotiations.
Meanwhile, DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun told a press conference that he would demand that all DPP legislators publicly explain why a session had not been held and the budget had not been passed.
The DPP would also urge voters "punish KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) by refusing to cast ballots for the KMT in the year-end legislative election," he said.
Calling the legislature's final resolution a chance for different caucuses to "chill out," Ker added that the agreement was reached in a bid to "avoid conflict and prevent the legislature from accomplishing nothing" in the extra session.
As to whether the budget could be passed during the next session, Ker said no consensus had been reached.
Ker said that he hoped pan-blue legislators listen to the opinions of supporters during the recess, which began on Jan 20 and continues until the end of February.
"We hope rationality will get an upper hand within the pan-blue camp," Ker said. "We hope the KMT stops clinging obstinately to its own course."
"In light of the coming legislative election at the end of this year, pan-blue legislators should protect their own political careers instead of listening to their party caucus whips and act independently," he said.
Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), the convener of Citizen Watch, an organization composed of 25 NGOs that observes the legislature, told the press after meeting with Yu yesterday morning that the ruling and opposition parties should compromise and pass the budget and bills concerning people's livelihood.
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