Government and DPP leaders yesterday called for negotiations with opposition parties to try to resolve their differences, promising that the proposals put forth by the three major opposition leaders in their high-profile summit yesterday would receive due respect.
Yu Shyi-kun, secretary-general to the Presidential Office, said that he would visit the KMT, People First Party and New Party soon to discuss their proposals.
"The government will take the proposals seriously," Yu said.
Yu said inter-party consensus is needed, especially on issues concerning cross-strait relations and the constitutional system, because these are where public opinion is divided.
"Ruling party reconciliation with the opposition is what is most anticipated by the public. Now that opposition opinions have been consolidated, the Presidential Office wishes to start further communication and negotiations with the opposition parties," Yu said.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
"We hope for a continuation of the inter-party, round-table talks to build up a routine system of ruling party-opposition dialogue," Chang said.
Chang said he has charged Executive Yuan secretary-general Chiou I-jen (
Opposition lawmakers have rejected negotiations with the DPP caucus after Chang announced the government's decision to scrap the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project on Oct. 27.
Opposition lawmakers, who insist the decision was unconstitutional and unlawful, have also planned to launch a drive to recall President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), while pushing the Control Yuan to take action to impeach Chang.
Chang has remained persona non grata in the legislature and has not been allowed to deliver his oral presentation on the 2001 budget.
The three opposition leaders yesterday said the recall drive against the president was to pressure him to abide by the principles of a semi-presidential system, which, they argued, is what the ROC Constitution is all about.
DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (
"If their so-called mainstream public opinion refers to the opinion of the 100-plus legislators who signed the recall motion -- and not the opinion of the 60 percent of the people who are against the recall -- the DPP must express its regret over the matter," Wu said.
On the opposition parties' proposal to adopt an informal practice in which the legislature can vote to confirm the premier's policy report -- a way to make up for the legislature's lack of power to approve the president's appointment of a premier -- Wu said he doubted whether the proposal would be constitutional.
Wu said since the legislature's power to approve a premier's appointment was removed in the 1997 constitutional reform, it is unreasonable to allow an informal vote to serve the purpose.
If the opposition parties have no confidence in the premier, they can raise a vote of no-confidence against the premier, Wu pointed out.
Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財), convener of the DPP caucus, said a more feasible method to show respect for the legislature's majority opinion would be to conduct informal negotiations with opposition leaders before the appointment is made.
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