Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said that the passage of four "sunshine bills" would be the party caucus' top priority in the upcoming legislative session which reconvenes on Sept. 19.
Ma said that with the expansion of the movement against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the KMT must take the initiative and promote enactment of laws to allow the public to see "what else the opposition is doing."
Ma made the remarks during a meeting with KMT city and county chiefs yesterday. The KMT runs 15 out of 25 local governments in Taiwan.
Among the four "sunshine bills" Ma mentioned were a lobbying bill, a bill regulating political party activities, amendments to the Public Functionary Assets Disclosure Law (公職人員財產申報法) and the Political Donations Law (政治獻金法).
The KMT will push for the passage of the first two bills while sparing no efforts to ensure the full implementation of the other laws, Ma said, noting that he believed the street protests illustrate a growing trend in public opinion, and that the Legislative Yuan and the executive branch of the government should address these public concerns.
Asked for comments by the press, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) yesterday said his party welcomed the KMT's move.
However, Tsai said, he hoped the KMT would not just pay lip service to the issue.
Stolen assets
Tsai then chastised the KMT for not doing enough. For instance, he said, the KMT had not included in its proposed bill the part that concerned the return of the KMT's stolen party assets.
Tsai added the DPP caucus was also planning to introduce nine "sunshine bills" of its own, including a draft law concerning the disposition of assets improperly obtained by political parties, a lobbying bill, a bill covering the operation of political parties, a statute governing the Ministry of Justice's anti-corruption bureau, amendments to the Political Donations Law, the Act on Property Declaration by Public Servants, the Legislators' Conduct Act (立法委員行為法), the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (公職人員選舉罷免法) and the Public Officials' Conflicts of Interest Prevention Act (公職人員利益衝突迴避法).
Additional reporting by CNA
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