Cross-party talks on the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) proposal for a special legislative session failed to get off the ground yesterday, due to the absence of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), People First Party (PFP) and Non-partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU) caucuses.
The DPP has called for a special session to screen six priority bills, including an eight-year, NT$80 billion (US$2.54 billion) flood-control plan and the long-stalled special budget request for the purchase of US arms.
However, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"All legislative caucuses must specify their stance on the matter on Friday," Wang told reporters after chairing yesterday's abortive cross-party negotiations.
Seeking to resolve the political deadlock, Wang said that he decided during the meeting to invite the relevant government agencies to brief the legislature on Friday on its proposed flood-fighting package.
A second round of cross-party talks will immediately follow that report, to decide on whether to hold a special session.
Wang said that he does not think it is necessary for Premier Frank Hsieh (
Government agencies invited to Friday's meeting may include the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Council for Economic Planning and Development as well as the legislature's Budget Committee and Economy and Energy Committee.
Although Wang yesterday said that it is "very necessary" to solve the nation's chronic flooding problems, he refused to say whether he himself supports holding a special legislative session to address the issue.
"So far, I have never said anything about whether to hold a special session because it is a decision that must be made by all legislative caucuses," he said.
Wang, however, said that disasters could continue to plague the nation if the flooding problem is not better addressed.
"If money is needed to effectively control flooding, it must be spent," he said. "After all, it concerns people's life and property."
In a bid to obtain Wang's support for the proposed special session, DPP lawmaker and director of the DPP's Policy Committee Ker Chien-ming (
Responding to the meeting outcome, Jao said that his caucus will continue to sincerely ask the pan-blue camp and independent lawmakers to support their proposal for a special session.
Jao added that he is sorry to see that neither PFP Chairman James Soong (
Lien is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Thursday, but Soong has not yet decided when he will return.
While both the KMT and PFP caucuses have each requested an apology from the DPP, Jao said that it is impossible for his caucus to offer any apology because it does not think one is necessary.
Since the PFP has specifically asked for an apology from President Chen Shui-bian (
The KMT's demand for an apology also makes no sense, Jao said, because the government's short-term flood-fighting measures after Typhoon Haitang have proven effective, especially in Sijhih City (
While the KMT caucus prefers to screen only the flood-control plan during a special session, Jao called on opposition parties to agree to tackle all six priority bills it had proposed.
In addition to the flood-fighting package and arms procurement plan, those are the confirmation of President Chen's selections of Control Yuan members, the organic bill governing the supervision and management committee of labor retirement fund, amendments to the Organic Law of the Executive Yuan (
PFP caucus whip Hsu Yao-chang (
PFP policy research center director Chang Hsien-yao (
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