The compromise came hours after DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) met the DPP caucus and said the party would not waver from its demands.
“We are committed to holding a substantial review with a discussion and vote on every clause,” she said after the morning meeting. “The DPP is completely against a package vote.”
Tsai said that while similar agreements in other countries have been subject to a package vote, it was either because the legislature pre-authorized economic negotiations or because of its full participation in the negotiation process.
“However, in the case of Taiwan’s talks with [China] on the ECFA, government officials did not allow either input or monitoring by elected representatives,” she said.
The DPP says the agreement will have an impact on traditional industries and middle-class salaries because of an influx of cheaper goods from China.
A hotly debated issue is Article 16 of the ECFA, in which Taiwan would have to wait at least 180 days before it could terminate the agreement in the event of a breakdown in cross-strait talks.
The DPP has criticized the clause, saying that Taiwan would have no way to immediately back out of the ECFA if it was found to be damaging the economy. KMT lawmakers say the clause is essential to protect Taiwanese businesses in China.
Lawmakers yesterday voted against the DPP’s motion that the legislature, during the second provisional session, initiate a referendum on the ECFA and revise the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) to ensure that counties and cities that are to be upgraded to a municipality after Dec. 25 receive more funds from the central government.
The KMT’s proposal to ratify the ECFA, the Cross-Strait Cooperation Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights Protection and other bills during the second provisional session was confirmed.
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