Legislature scrambles to clear bills

The Legislative Yuan is scrambling to complete as many bills as possible before going into recess tomorrow, as nearly 60 bills are still pending in the legislature.

The current legislative session should have ended last Friday, but the lawmakers decided to extend the current session for another week.

At the strong urging of National Security Council Secretary-General Kang Ning-hsiang (康寧祥), a draft amendment to the National Security Council Organization Law (國家安全會議組織法修正草案) has won across-the-board support and was placed at the top of the agenda for today's session. Yesterday was a national holiday.

After coordination negotiations, the ruling and opposition parties reached consensus on a draft amendment for provisional regulations on the prevention of SARS, which was placed second on the agenda.

The third bill on today's agenda authorizes an additional NT$78.4 billion (US$2.24 billion) for the central government's total budget. As this bill is crucial to the expansion of various public construction and economic stimulation projects, it is expected to pass without objection.

A draft amendment providing pensions for the elderly, which has been pending since last year mainly because of a lack of funding, is also expected to be cleared during this session and will benefit as many as 210,000 people.

Since last year, the ruling and opposition parties have submitted 10 versions of the proposed bill -- criticized as a pork-barrel bill -- for debate.

PFP Chiu Yi (邱毅) said the party is hopeful that the bill can also be expanded to cover veterans and other underprivileged groups.

Even though many other bills are pending, like the draft amendment on the Statute Governing the Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), they are still awaiting consideration in talks between the ruling and opposition parties.

Chiu that the PFP and the KMT, because of their desire to put aside their disputes, are willing to put aside the more controversial parts, such as those relating to direct-transport links and the rights of Chinese brides, so that the draft bill can clear the legislature this session.

The fate of yet another major bill -- a draft amendment crucial to major reforms in the organization of the Judicial Yuan and the Council of Grand Justices -- is yet to clear, despite repeated coordination between the parties.

The DPP insists that the amendment be passed quickly so that the organization law can be put into practice before the deadline of Oct. 1 as requested by an interpretation of the Council of Grand Justices, so that there will be no constitutional crisis.

A DPP spokesman said the party does not rule out the possibility of putting the amendment to a vote.

The opposition, however, believes that a major reform such as amendment of the organization law of the Judicial Yuan requires time for preparation and should not be put into practice for at least two years, to provide a buffer period.

Meanwhile, a draft amendment on the regulations on the development of the outlying islands is supported by an alliance of independent legislators.

The KMT has issued an urgent request to all its legislators to attend tomorrow's session to vote on the major bills.