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DPP asks Lien to break the ongoing legislative deadlock

Frustrated by the stalemate in the legislature, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday called on Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) to help break through the impasse after he returns from China.

"The KMT caucus has to take full responsibility because it has shut the door of negotiation and keeps boycotting bills proposed by the Executive Yuan and the pan-green alliance at the legislature's procedure committee," said DPP caucus whip Lai Ching-te (賴清德), adding that yesterday's procedure committee meeting was a typical example.

The pan-blue dominated committee yesterday voted 18 to 12 in favor of shelving 17 bills proposed by the DPP and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucuses. The bills include the arms procurement plan, confirmation of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) selection of Control Yuan members, a bill to counter China's aggression and a national loyalty bill.

While Lien is willing to reconcile with the Chinese Communist Party, he has ordered his party to adopt a "scorched earth" policy to plunge the legislature into a standoff, Lai said.

"We hope the first thing Lien does when he comes home is to help solve the legislative problem," Lai said. "I think it would be more meaningful to help solve domestic problems than to bring back pandas from China."

Despite the opposition voiced by some DPP lawmakers to Lien's return, another DPP caucus whip, Jao Yung-ching (趙永清), said that he welcomes Lien's efforts because China might not attack Taiwan since Lien is such a good friend of Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).

Lai said that he hopes the legislature passes as many bills and budget plans as possible before the current session ends on May 31 instead of extending the session or even calling a provisional session.

Lai made the remarks in response to a proposal made by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who has indicated that he is under much pressure from the US government to handle the arms procurement plan. Wang has proposed to hold an interim session in July or August to tackle the matter if the legislature fails to pass the arms budget in the current session.

The People First Party (PFP) caucus also voiced opposition to Wang's proposal, saying that it prefers to settle the matter via cross-party negotiations, hopefully by the end of the month.

PFP caucus whip Lee Yong-ping (李永萍) said that it is inappropriate for the legislature to tackle such a controversial bill during a provisional meeting. She said that she was surprised by Wang's proposal and that her caucus will only give the bill the go-ahead when the budget is earmarked as a regular annual budget rather than a special one.

The PFP's Chin Hui-chu (秦慧珠) said that she was baffled by Wang's proposal, and that she finds it unacceptable to pass the arms budget during a provisionary session.

PFP Legislator Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) said that he is adverse to the arms budget because it is padded.
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