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DPP hopes draft bills will bring `political sunshine'

The DPP caucus said yesterday it would try to pass five bills marked by the Cabinet as priorities for the next legislative session.

The five, dubbed "political sunshine bills," are drafts of the political party law (政黨法), the lobby law (遊說法), the statute regarding political donations (政治獻金管理條例), the government information disclosure bill (資訊公開法) and the statute regarding the disposition of assets improperly obtained by political parties (政黨不當取得財產處理條例).

"The DPP caucus hopes to see passage of these five bills despite the fact legislators will have limited time to review them in the next legislative session," DPP legislative leader Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said.

Ker, speaking at a press conference yesterday after a meeting with DPP lawmakers, said the party would work to pass the bills as well as revisions to the Statute Governing the Establishment and Management of a Resolution Trust Fund, which failed to clear the legislative floor during a special session in July.

Cabinet Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) said the 109 bills before the legislature reflect the Executive Yuan's goals of reviving the economy and carrying out reforms.

DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said his party would work toward the legal formulation of referendums and bills related to legislative reforms.

Chen said the DPP would continue to push amendments to three media bills -- the Cable Television Law (有線廣播電視法), the Satellite Broadcasting Law (衛星廣播電視法) and the Broadcasting and Television Law (廣播電視法).

Ker said the legislature would have trouble finding the time to finalize reform bills as review of the central government budget and routine interpellation would take up most of the next session.

When lawmakers return from their summer recess on Sept. 5, they are scheduled to confirm the appointment of the 15 grand justices nominated by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in May.

The confirmation has been delayed for months due to the objections of pan-blue lawmakers.

The legislature, meanwhile, faces a deadline of the end of September to finalize two other delayed reviews -- revisions to the Judicial Yuan Organic Law (司法院組織法) and amendments to the Statute Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例).
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