A bill extending the Financial Restructuring Fund (
Party caucuses had originally agreed to extend the fund late last month and arranged for the bill to be discussed in the sitting yesterday. But Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Chuan-chiao (
Lee said that unless the party caucuses agreed to cover bad debts incurred by the farmers' and fishermen's associations, he would not agree to pass the bill.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"The government is covering the bad debts of banks such as Chung Hsing, which resulted from poor management and embezzlement, but the government is not giving the associations a hand. This is unfair," Lee said.
"I am demanding that an article be added to the agreement allocating 20 percent of the fund to credit departments at the farmers' and fishermen's associations to cover bad debts," Lee said.
The fund expires on July 9, and if it is not extended, the government faces the serious situation of not being able to handle bad debts in the financial sector.
Meanwhile, legislators decided at yesterday's sitting to demand that the government retain more than 20 percent of the total shares of China Steel Corp and refrain from selling off more stock.
But the Statute for the Major Military Purchases (
Other important bills will also be discussed in the final legislative sessions. These include a budget for state-owned businesses, a proposed statute increasing investment in public construction (擴大公共建設投資條例) and a motion to have the Control Yuan impeach former Presidential Office secretary-general Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) and former National Security Council secretary-general Kang Ning-hsiang (康寧祥) for failing to attend interpellation sessions at the legislature.
The controversial labor pension bill (勞工退休金條例) will also be debated even as the caucuses of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and the alliance of independent legislators delay in signing off on a negotiation agreement.
The bill stipulates that employers must have a retirement fund for employees likely to retire within five years. Employers must also raise the required capital within five years of the bill becoming law.
But the Alliance of Independent Lawmakers insisted that the retirement fund be available for transfer to employees prior to the five-year deadline. The TSU is reserving its decision on the bill.
"We hope the bill can be beneficial to both employers and employees, and we will wait to see what happens after the Council of Labor Affairs meets with businesses on Thursday," TSU caucus whip Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) said.
The TSU will chair the meeting between the council and business leaders tomorrow morning.
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