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KMT chairman softens his position on CEC bill

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday backtracked from his party's position that the bill which led to gridlock in last Friday's legislative session be the first item on the agenda of any provisional session.

Ma announced the move after a meeting yesterday with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).

A mass brawl broke out among legislators during last Friday's session over a KMT-proposed bill designed to select members of the Central Election Commission (CEC) in accordance with the number of seats each party holds.

The KMT refused to review any other bills on the last day of the session unless the bill was passed, while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) demanded the central government's 2007 budget bill be placed on top of the agenda.

If the amendment had passed, the pan-blue camp would have taken control of the commission, whose members are currently nominated by the premier and appointed by the president.

"If an extra session is to be held, the budget bill, the CEC bill and about 20 other bills enjoying support from all parties should be included. As for the CEC bill, it's not necessary that it be placed as the first item [on the agenda list,]" Ma said yesterday.

Meanwhile, the DPP caucus questioned Ma's sincerity.

DPP legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) accused Ma of "saying one thing and doing another."

Ker gave an example to back up his claim. He said Ma had said the other day that the KMT needed to change its name if it regained political power and became the governing party again, but that the very next day, Ma had changed his tune.

The DPP and its pan-green ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), drew up a joint motion on Monday to convene a provisional session on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, with 12 bills on the agenda, including the budget bill and the nine so-called "sunshine bills" aimed at establishing clean politics.

Wang, who said he considered it necessary to hold an extra session to review the budget bill, said he would convene an informal session on Monday to decide the matter.
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