DPP urging opposition to return to negotiating table

Saying that the government has great respect for the legislature, leaders from the ruling DPP caucus yesterday urged their opposition counterparts to resume cross-party talks that are key to smooth legislation.

They paid a visit to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) earlier in the day, asking him to help end the deadlock that arose from opposition protests over ranking officials failing to answer legislative inquiries.

Wang pledged to discuss the issue with Premier Yu Shyi-kun soon, but the PFP caucus said it would not return to the negotiating table unless the Cabinet makes a number of concessions.

"Neither the administration nor the DPP harbors any contempt for the opposition parties," DPP legislative leader Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) told an afternoon news conference. He backed up the statement with a stack of papers showing the average attendance rate for the 43 Cabinet officials is 93 percent thus far in this session.

Despite the standoff, he said he wished the opposition would not boycott the legislative process today when the lawmaking body is slated to discuss a monthly stipend for senior citizens, among other policy issues.

"Apolitical in nature, those bills should be processed without delay," Ker said.

To placate the opposition, fellow lawmaker Wang Tuoh (王拓) said he agreed National Security Bureau Director Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明) should testify before legislative hearings on its negligence of duty.

"Tsai should not dodge legislative inquiries in the wake of a scandal involving his former subordinate," Wang said, referring to former NSB cashier Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍), who allegedly embezzled NT$190 million before fleeing the country in Sept. 2000.

Related committees can hold secret meetings if Tsai is afraid of leaking confidential information, Wang said.