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DPP caucus seeks extra time for unfinished business

The DPP legislative caucus called yesterday for an extraordinary session of the Legislative Yuan to review six major bills the party deems crucial to the government's efforts to improve the economy.

The legislature cleared only 53 bills in its third session, which ended June 6, or about one-third the number passed in its first session.

DPP party whip Ker Chien-ming's (柯建銘) said the six bills, including the financial-restructuring-fund bill and a financial-monitoring committee-organization bill, will improve the nation's industrial structure and help revive the economy.

He expressed hope that the legislators will not travel overseas during their recess, but will dedicate themselves to the welfare of the people.

He noted that if President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) asks for an extraordinary session or one-fourth of the legislators approve of such a meeting, then the legislature must convene an extraordinary session.

He asked the KMT and PFP to face the issue squarely and not try to block the ruling party.

Ker said he is not satisfied with the opposition's requests that consultations between the DPP and opposition parties be held first to discuss whether to convene such a session.

DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳奇邁) said that when the new legislative session opens Sept. 5, lawmakers will first have to review the nominees for the Council of Grand Justices, after which there will be a general interpellation and a review of the government budget.

"The six financial bills might have to wait for another six months to clear the legislature, " he said.

He said the bills "transcend ideology and partisan stripes, and conform with national needs and the expectations of the general public, " which is why they require a speedy review.

Meanwhile, the KMT and PFP called for Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to coordinate the inter-party consultations.

Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), executive director of the KMT's Central Policy Committee, said that the ruling and opposition parties have no consensus on the six financial bills and that a rash provisional meeting would be futile.

He noted that the KMT only convened two extraordinary sessions during its five-decade rule and said the DPP should be careful about its proposal.

PFP spokesman Huang Yi-chiao (黃義交) claimed that the convening of an extraordinary session "at random" will make it look like a regular session and will destroy "the somber nature of an extraordinary session."

In addition, an extraordinary session is costly, he said.

Huang said that the DPP and the TSU have differences over four of the six bills and so the problem lies with those parties.

A TSU spokesman said that the party has yet to reach consensus on whether to hold an extraordinary session and will decide on the issue at a TSU Central Executive Committee meeting next Monday.

The legislature passed only 17 of the 106 bills marked by the Cabinet as a priority to be finalized in the latest legislative session. Overall, it approved 136 in the first legislative session, 84 in the second and 31 bills in the just-concluded session.
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