The DPP yesterday called on the pan-blue camp to cease blocking the Cabinet's job-creation programs with technical measures and said that the party only supported the Cabinet's proposals because it puts the needs of all regional governments first.
DPP Deputy Secretary General Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said after the party's weekly Central Standing Committee meeting that the DPP would not accept the opposition's request to add either NT$ 8.4 billion or NT$4 billion to the NT$50 billion-program, or to directly distribute the funding to the townships.
Calling the demands "technical measures to boycott the proposal," Lee said he hoped people would see through the opposition's bad intentions and voice their discontentment.
The Cabinet proposed two job-creation programs in January -- a NT$20 billion public-service program and a NT$50 billion public-construction package.
The opposition alliance says the programs would serve as a campaign fund for the DPP ahead of next year's presidential election and that local governments controlled by the party would be the prime beneficiaries.
The debate over how to allocate the NT$50 billion has almost paralyzed the legislature.
President Chen Shui-bian (
Noting that the opposition has suggested dozens of changes to the Cabinet's programs, DPP Legislator Lawrence Gao (高志鵬) said the request to add more money shows the opposition is "not sincere about getting the proposal passed."
As for the demand that the funds be distributed directly to local townships, Gao said, "It is clear who is seeking to employ this amount of money to attract votes."
Lee said the Cabinet's proposal was formulated based upon public-construction projects that are the most necessary for local development.
"The budget therefore has to be implemented by local governments to allow the local chiefs to forge the most effective plans and to avoid the waste of resources," he said.
Noting that DPP-run local governments govern 58.71 percent of the nation's population and these administrators will receive 57.84 percent of the funds, Lee said "the DPP does not favor any particular regions."
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