Tue, May 11, 2004 page3

• DPP legislators blast pan-blues for missing meetings

  • By Debby Wu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus members blasted their pan-blue counterparts for dereliction of duty yesterday, saying that the pan-blue legislators not only missed their committee meetings, but even canceled inter-party negotiations on the budget for state-owned enterprises so that they could "focus" on the recount.

  As the recount began yesterday, most pan-blue legislators were absent from the Legislative Yuan, and most committee meetings were canceled due to insufficient attendance.

  The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) have mobilized their legislators to return to their constituencies to help with the recount.

  While the Judiciary Committee and Transportation Committee were conducting investigations yesterday, the Organic Laws and Statutes Committee and the Economics and Energy Committee meetings were canceled.

  Only the Education and Cultural Committee and the Finance Committee were able to muster the necessary manpower to hold meetings to review bills and question government officials.

  "There were two committee meetings canceled [yesterday] morning, with 21 DPP legislators and only five pan-blue legislators present. This is very disappointing," Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), the director-general of the DPP caucus, said.

  "The recount belongs to the judges and the lawyers, and it has nothing to do with the legislators. Yet the pan-blue legislators abandoned their duties and went to the courts to be cheerleaders instead. Further, because Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and the other pan-blue legislators need to be present at the recount headquarters, the inter-party negotiations for the budget bill for state-owned enterprises has been canceled. The pan-blue legislators have been seriously negligent of their duties," Tsai said.

  Wang also urged the legislators to return to the legislature today.

  "[Yesterday was] a rare day, because it is the first time we have had a presidential election recount since the Constitution was adopted for the Republic of China. Each caucus has different needs, and things would get better after today," Wang said.

  "Each committee only needs one-third of the members to proceed with its meeting, and I hope the legislators can also participate in the committee meetings from [today] on," Wang said.

  Wang responded to the cancelation of the negotiation by saying that the time lost can be made up later and it won't affect the negotiation.

  The KMT caucus, however, denied the DPP's accusation, saying that it was the DPP's own fault that the committee meetings were aborted.

  "As long as the DPP legislators are all present in the committee, the meetings can proceed without problem. If the DPP really went ahead with the meetings, could the opposing parties not return to counter the governing party?" KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Huang Teh-fu (黃德福) said.

  "But the DPP legislators are busy with the party's primaries, and they are still criticizing others for not coming to the meetings," Huang said.
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