Ties between the executive and legislative branches soured further yesterday as opposition lawmakers accused the Cabinet of seeking to demonize the legislature to mask its own administrative ineptitude.
Even the TSU, the tiny ally of the ruling DPP, portrayed as unfair Premier Yu Shyi-kun's earlier remark that the review of legislation had been disappointingly slow.
To prevent the discontent from getting out of hand, DPP caucus leaders paid a visit to their opposition counterparts in the hope of resuming cross-party talks that have been stalled for weeks.
Lawmakers from the opposition KMT and PFP held a joint news conference in the morning to protest the charge of inefficiency.
KMT legislative leader Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said the legislature has convened 14 full meetings, most of which were spent questioning the administration in line with the legislative calendar.
"Judging from the arrangement, it is not bad for the legislature to have passed more than 61 policy bills, as only four of the full meetings are used for second and third readings of legislation," Tseng told reporters.
On Wednesday, the premier expressed concerns that, of the 360 bills the Cabinet sent to the legislature over the past few months, only 65 have been made law. Noting that the current legislative session will end on May 31, Yu called on the lawmaking body to postpone recess until June to pass more bills to help boost the economy.
Tseng added that the premier, by demonizing the legislature, appeared to be shirking responsibility for failing to reinvigorate the economy.
PFP Legislative Whip Diane Lee (李慶安) agreed, saying that the Cabinet was trying to embarrass the legislature when the caucuses already had a consensus to extend the session till June.
* On Wednesday, the premier expressed concern that, of the 360 bills the Cabinet sent to the legislature over the past few months, only 65 have been made law.
* He called on the lawmaking body to postpone recess until June to pass more bills to help boost the economy.
"If the Cabinet's really that eager to see more bills adopted, it should take action to seek support from the legislature," Lee said, adding that her ruling colleagues have only listed 21 bills as "priority."
The TSU, founded last August to help the DPP government preserve stability, was also critical of the government.
TSU legislative leader Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) said that the Cabinet should blame itself if it finds the legislative review ineffective.
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