An effort by the KMT and the People First Party (PFP) to work together saw its first real challenge yesterday when the two parties had a disagreement over a key piece of reform legislation that targets vote-buying.
An argument between lawmakers of both parties began yesterday over a PFP-proposed amendment to the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (
The PFP tried to move its own proposed amendment onto the legislature's agenda, but was stopped by a KMT lawmaker. If the PFP amendment to the law had not been stopped, it would have moved on to the Home and Nations Committee.
KMT lawmaker Kwan Yuk-noan (
Shen Chih-hwei (
Shen went as far as to threaten to terminate the cooperation between the two parties and force a dissolution of the opposition coalition unless the KMT offered the PFP a satisfactory explanation for the move.
"This matter has betrayed the basis of confidence established within the opposition coalition," Shen said.
The PFP was unhappy with the fact that the KMT had rejected the bill without consulting them beforehand.
The KMT, which holds a majority in the Procedure Committee, had not objected to putting the bill onto the legislature's agenda when the committee met last Friday.
A similar DPP-proposed amendment finished a debate in the Home and Nations Committee on March 12. Under that proposal, vote-buying in party primaries would be penalized by the same standards that apply to national elections.
The DPP had originally attempted to rush this amendment through the legislature and have it passed before April 1 -- when the DPP is scheduled to hold a primary ballot to decide its nominees for the year-end legislative and local government elections.
But the plan was stalled by the opposition coalition consisting of the KMT, PFP and the New Party, which claimed that it was impossible for the amendment to be completed in time to affect the DPP primary.
The DPP proposal was also accused of being incomplete and in need of additional proposals.
The PFP was the first among the opposition parties to make its proposal ready, a move that could speed up the legislative process for the amendment and threaten only the KMT, which holds its primary on May 5.
KMT caucus whip Cheng Yung-chin (
"It would be unfair to the KMT ... the PFP probably won't hold any primaries at all," Cheng said.
Lee Sen-zong (
Lee said the KMT is drafting its own proposal, which would force the government to monitor political primaries and enable law-enforcement authorities to crack down on vote-buying practices.
Lee urged the PFP not to expand the dispute for the sake of its own political interests, because in many cases, the KMT is in fact at a disadvantage to cooperate with the PFP.
"The KMT doesn't necessarily have to cooperate with the PFP," Lee said.
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