Female KMT lawmakers yesterday threatened to vote against the national budget because female Cabinet members did not attend a panel discussion on women's rights to which the KMT members had invited them. The KMT legislators made the threat at the panel gathering before canceling the planned discussion about policies on women's rights. They lashed out against the Cabinet members saying that they were "too aloof to deal with policies on women's welfare."
During the break in the general question session at the Legislative Yuan, female Cabinet members briefly greeted the lawmakers at the panel discussion before rushing to a scheduled luncheon with female legislators of other parties.
The female Cabinet members had invited their fellow female legislators, including those from the KMT, to a lunch to review budget plans in accordance with "customs of the Legislative Assembly." The KMT lawmakers, however, declined to join, to avoid "the corrupt habit of making policy while feasting," said female KMT legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順).
Instead, the KMT lawmakers decided to co-hold a panel discussion at the same time as the luncheon. They sent their invitations to female Cabinet members only one day before the discussion. As though making a point of providing a relatively plain meal for participants, including journalists, they ordered Year 2000 special commemorative lunch boxes, costing NT$300 each, from the Taiwan Railway Administration.
They then condemned the Cabinet members who attended the scheduled luncheon for feasting while the government professes its commitment to financial prudence.
Although the scheduled luncheon was co-hosted by female Cabinet members from different parties, Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝), a female KMT lawmaker, attacked the DPP as being no better than the "old KMT" for preserving an "outdated political culture."
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