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Hand-in-hand alliance mulls demonstration

A pro-independence group said yesterday that it has not ruled out protesting outside the Legislative Yuan against the opposition parties' continued obstruction of the special arms-procurement budget.

"If the arms-procurement plan does not pass the legislature before the Lunar New Year, we are open to all kinds of possibilities," said Wu Shuh-min (吳樹民), president of the Northern Taiwan Society.

Wu made the remarks during a press conference yesterday afternoon sponsored by the Hand-in-Hand Taiwan Alliance.

The group hopes to get 10,000 people to donate NT$100 each to support the NT$480 billion (US$14.5 billion) arms-procurement plan.

So far the drive has received more than NT$2 million.

Ng Chiau-tong (黃昭堂), convener of the alliance, said that although NT$100 million does not seem like much, it is the meaning behind the campaign that counts.

Ng said his group is considering erecting a monument to list the names of lawmakers opposing the arms-procurement plan and those supporting it in a bid to leave a legacy of the stymied package.

The plan has been blocked by the Procedural Committee 41 times since the beginning of the legislative term in February.

As the current legislative session is scheduled to end on Jan. 18, the odds of seeing the budget clear the legislature are slim.

People interested in making a donation are welcome to call the donation hotline at 412-1099, or they can call 02-2396-0900 for more information.

Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) proposed changing the funding for the special budget.

He said the eight submarines should continue as a special budget, the 12 P3-C maritime patrol aircraft should be listed as part of the regular annual budget and the budget of the Patriot missile batteries be put aside for now.

Lee said that since the opposition parties insisted that the first national referendum last year was a "veto" on buying the missile batteries, it would not hurt to delay the debate on them until the three-year time period on addressing a referendum topic for a second time expires.

Because the eight subs are so expensive, Lee said that other budgets are bound to be crowded out if money for the subs is taken from the regular annual budget.

If the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party do not back his proposal, Lee said, they should come up with their own funding proposal.
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