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MAC head slams legislative obstruction

The head of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday weighed into the fight between the Cabinet and legislature over stalled reform measures.

"The legislative holdup of amendments to the Statue Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) has damaged the government's hope of normalizing cross-strait exchanges," MAC Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said.

Tsai, who made a rare appearance at the council's weekly press conference, warned that the delay to the amendments would hurt attempts to correct administrative, civil and criminal affairs affecting cross-strait relations.

As a result the government had had to shelve plans to expand cross-strait activities, such as legalizing advertisements for Chinese goods and permitting the renminbi to be circulated in this country, she said.

The latest legislative session decided at the last minute to set aside the proposed amendments after the MAC and opposition lawmakers failed to reach a consensus on a timetable for establishing direct transportation links between Taiwan and China.

The MAC had repeatedly called on the legislature to update the statute, promulgated in September 1992, in an effort to advance cross-strait exchanges.

Tsai's comments came following a number of condemnations from other Cabinet officials about the pan-blue camp's obstruction of bills in the recently concluded legislative session.

Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday he hoped the opposition parties would change their ways.

"The Executive Yuan hopes opposition leaders will persuade their lawmakers to endorse bills that are necessary for the country's reform and economic revitalization so that measures will no long be blocked by one or two opposition lawmakers with selfish motives," Lin said.

Lin said that the delay in passing amendments to the law governing cross-strait relations and the resolution trust corporation law during the last session were the result of minor disagreements from a few PFP lawmakers.

Premier Yu Shyi-kun on Thursday also attacked the opposition parties for paralyzing the legislature, saying the pan-blue had jeopardized measures to boost the economy.

PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday fought back, arguing that the premier's comments were inappropriate and went against the Constitution.

"The premier's remark revealed that he perceives the legislature as the administration's legislative bureau, a notion that would generate a constitutional crisis in other countries if their Cabinet members or premiers made similar remarks," Soong said.

KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) also criticized Yu's complaints, saying that the DPP administration should admit it is still incapable of governing three years after taking power.

"The opposition lawmakers already gave as much help as they could to the government in the legislature. This is what everyone in the country has witnessed, leading them to feel that the KMT has acted more like a ruling party, with the ruling party performing poorly," Lien said.

Legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday again denied DPP criticism that he had tolerated opposition attempts to stall reform measures by using their numerical edge in the legislature.

"The legislature is not obliged to take all items sent from the executive arm. Approval of bills requires negotiations and even compromise between parties and government agencies," Wang said.
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