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DPP publicity campaign to highlight legislative spat

The DPP will launch a presidential election publicity drive next month highlighting the opposition's attempts in the legislature to block reforms promised by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in the run-up to the last presidential election.

"We want to clarify to the public who exactly is blocking the reform measures to boost Taiwan's economic development and financial competitiveness," DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) told a press conference at the DPP's Taipei headquarters.

In a strategy reminiscent of the campaign for the 2001 legislative elections, the party said that next year's vote would be about "reform versus relapse."

Before the last legislative elections, the newly elected DPP government attacked the opposition parties for cutting budgets and rejecting a number of DPP-led social welfare reforms.

The DPP overtook the KMT as the single largest party in the legislature, although if failed to secure a majority.

High-ranking officials in charge of campaign strategy, including legislative caucus chief Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), Presidential Office Secretary General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) and other legislators, had decided to launch the publicity campaign following obstruction by pan-blue legislators of a number of government-backed bills in the past legislative session, Lee said.

Lee's statements came a day after Premier Yu Shyi-kun voiced his resentment over legislative intransigence in passing reform measures.

He blamed the pan-blue camp for leading a conservative anti-reform drive in the legislature.

"The performance of this legislative session was extremely poor, as it passed only 53 bills, while the average number of bills passed in the previous sessions of the legislature was about 150. It was all because of a legislative impasse directed by the opposition camp's anti-reform force," Lee said.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei also described the recent session of the legislature as disappointing and "unfortunate," since lawmakers failed to pass bills that the organization had considered vital to economic growth, Lee said.

Lee accused KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) of making the legislature a preliminary battleground ahead of next year's presidential election.

"This legislative session was originally scheduled to end in June 15. However, because Lien and Soong wanted to launch the campaign ahead of time, the scheduled ending date was moved forward to June 6 -- which is inconsistent with the legislature's customary practice of ending its first session of the year in mid-June," Lee said.
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