Tue, Mar 07, 2006 page3

• Scrapping NUC was right decision: Su

  PEOPLE POWER The premier said the move returned to Taiwanese people the right to determine their future, while the opposition blasted him for being a 'puppet'

  • By Shih Hsiu-chuan / STAFF REPORTER
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  Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday told lawmakers that he thought that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) made the right decision in "ceasing" the activity of the National Unification Council (NUC) and unification guidelines.

  "[The decision] was correct because it returned the right to decide the nation's future back to its 23 million people," Su said while giving a special briefing to the legislature on the NUC issue.

  Su had a cautious attitude when questioned, avoiding any discussion of the decision-making process and the communication process with the US.

  

  KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun, right, holds up a marionette in the legislature yesterday, calling for Premier Su Tseng-chang not to serve as President Chen Shui-bian's puppet. Su was in the legislature to report on the scrapping of the National Unification Council. Kuo is accompanied by KMT legislator Pan Wei-kang, center, and Su Chi.

  PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

  The premier told Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Su Chi (蘇起) that the president had not consulted him prior to his Jan. 29 announcement that he was seriously considering scrapping the council and guidelines.

  In response to People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) who asked about communication with the US, the premier said, "I knew that the Presidential Office was in charge of the communication, but I didn't know who."

  KMT Legislator Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) asked the premier why the US State Department issued a statement recently in which it asked the Taiwanese government to public state that Chen's Feb. 27 announcement did not abolish the council and guidelines.

  In response, the premier asked Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) to answer Pan's question, saying that "[The ministry] has held a press conference and issued a press release to explain this. There is no need for me to address this."

  The premier's answers prompted opposition lawmakers to cast doubt on whether he really has the power a premier must have in order to decide the government's policies.

  "As a premier, you are the head of the nation's executive [branch], and so you shouldn't say that issues relating to diplomacy or cross-strait relations are not your business," Su said.

  KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) said that the premier had become the president's puppet, and lacked the courage to tell the president that his decision on the NUC and unification guidelines wasn't applauded by the public or the international community.

  But the premier responded that ceasing the activity of the NUC was supported by the people.

  "Many surveys show that more than 80 percent of the people support the position that the nation's future can only be decided by its 23 million people," he said.

  "In the international community, [many countries] are praising our determination to maintain the cross-strait status quo," the premier said.
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