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Camps square off on bill

With Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators attempting to shepherd through the Legislative Yuan a statute that, by circumventing the Public Debt Law (公債法), would allow a budget to be passed for the government's planned 10 major infrastructure projects, members of the pan-blue camp yesterday expressed reservations about the statute.

Last year the Cabinet proposed the 10 major infrastructure projects, which would cost NT$500 billion (US$15.2 million), and also proposed the statute (擴大公共建設投資特別條例) in order to allow funding of the projects.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) policy convener Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said yesterday that his party would insist on further negotiations over the statute.

Tseng said that the KMT first wants the special budget for construction of the Taipei and Kaohsiung MRT to be excluded from the statute because the construction is an ongoing project and the government should simply seek the legislature's agreement for extra expenditures related to those projects.

"Other projects and articles in the statute will need to be reviewed in committee . The statute will be passed when it doesn't violate any laws," Tseng said.

Meanwhile, Sheu Yuan-kuo (許淵國), the People First Party's (PFP) deputy convener, said that negotiation on the projects will only be possible if the DPP remains "rational and peaceful."

"We also want to review the projects one by one and we want to see concrete plans on the projects," Sheu said.

There will be an extra session in the Procedure Committee today to arrange an itinerary for tomorrow's sitting. The DPP is trying to bring the statute up for a vote in that sitting.

The Legislative Yuan held a public hearing on the projects yesterday with each caucus inviting academics and experts to give their opinions on whether or not the projects are necessary.

The scholars invited by the pan-blue camp expressed doubt about the projects, saying that the special budget for the project could bust the budget, and that the economy is already facing the possibility of overheating.

"The Cabinet's proposal seeks to circumvent the debt ceiling established in the Public Debt Law. If this statute gets passed, it would pose a serious threat to the country's financial system," said Hsu Jen-huei (徐仁輝), a professor in the Department of Public Policy and Management at Shih Hsin University. Hsu was invited by the PFP.
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