Premier follows fall legislative ritual

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) paid a courtesy call to legislative leaders yesterday to solicit their support for the Cabinet's policy goals.

The ritual normally takes place before the opening of a new legislative session.

"The Cabinet will submit draft bills needed to enact the conclusions reached by the Economic Development Advisory Conference," Chang said. "Hopefully, the legislature will quickly review the related legislation."

Forty-three amendments to existing law are needed to implement the more than 300 proposals hammered out by the just-concluded economic forum.

With 15 bills already under review in the legislature, Chang said the Cabinet would turn over the rest before the legislature convenes its fall session on Sept. 18.

"I would like to thank the legislature again for calling an extraordinary session during the summer recess to pass laws required for financial reform," the premier said. "They have proven beneficial, as we haven't witnessed any panic cash withdrawals over last two months."

Responding to the premier's polite remarks, Legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said the lawmaking body would attempt to pass as many Cabinet-recommended bills as possible to help turn the economy around.

Wang, vice chairman of the opposition KMT, praised the Cabinet for its decision earlier in the day to halve a tax on property sales for two years in an attempt to stimulate the real estate market.

"The decision proved to be a sound one, as evidenced by the rosy performance of the stock market, which closed up 140 points," said Wang, whose party had lobbied hard for the tax cut.

But Wang also noted that not all of the economic forum's conclusions were acceptable to every legislative caucus, and cross-party talks would be needed to iron out the differences.

The People First Party and the New Party, for example, are against tax cuts because the government is strapped for cash.

The legislature is to break for the entire month of November so incumbents can campaign for re-election,

The opposition-controlled legislature repeatedly locked horns with the Cabinet last year over a number of key policy issues, notably over the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.