Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) confirmed yesterday that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) planned banquet with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators tomorrow had been postponed until Jan. 11.
Wang told the Taipei Times that the president had accepted suggestions from the KMT caucus to put off the gathering for a few days.
“The KMT caucus worried there might be some unpredictable developments [at the legislature] that day [tomorrow] and could not know with certainty how late legislators would have to stay [to pass a proposed amendment that would ban the import of risky beef products],” Wang said.
Wang said the banquet would be held before the Legislative Yuan goes into recess on Tuesday next week.
Wang made the comment after KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) discussed the postponement yesterday.
Ma was scheduled to host the banquet for members of the caucus.
Wang on Saturday denied that the dinner was scheduled following a consensus reached by the legislature to put a proposed amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) to its third reading tomorrow.
Legislators across party lines agreed on Tuesday last week to help the proposal clear the legislative floor tomorrow despite a warning by the National Security Council that relations between Taiwan and the US might be damaged as a result.
The proposal, if passed, would ban imports of “risky” substances, including cow’s brains, eyes, spinal cord, intestines, ground beef and other related products from areas where cases of the mad cow disease have been reported over the past decade.
Asked for topics the president planned to discuss with KMT legislators during the banquet, Wang declined to elaborate, saying that it would be a “New Year gathering.”
Asked for comment, KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said the president should be prepared to accept legislators’ suggestions during the gathering, otherwise the occasion would be meaningless.
Legislators are also scheduled to vote on a supplementary resolution proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that imports of bone-in beef should be banned until a referendum is held on the matter.
Lin told reporters that the legislature would “surely” complete the amendment tomorrow, but both the KMT and the DPP might engage in a “war” over the proposed resolution and that the amendment may not clear the legislative floor until late at night.
Lin called on the DPP to follow the consensus reached among lawmakers last Tuesday and refrain from paralyzing tomorrow’s plenary session.
Lin said the KMT would not agree with the DPP resolution because it might infringe on the rights of the Executive Yuan.
DPP caucus secretary-general Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said the party would not boycott tomorrow’s plenary session and would abide by the consensus.
Yeh, however, said the DPP would call for a vote on the proposed resolution.
Meanwhile, the Executive Yuan’s Referendum Review Commission said the commission’s decision to allow or axe a referendum on the beef issue would not be influenced by the legislature’s plan to amend the Act.
Commission chairman Chao Yung-mau (趙永茂) told reporters that the commission would vote on the matter on Thursday.
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