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Chen brands the legislature a 'disaster'

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday called the pan-blue dominated legislature "the biggest disaster in the country over the past three years."

Chen made the remarks in the latest edition of his regular e-newsletter, saying that many bills on the economy and others affecting livelihoods had been blocked by the pan-blues majority in the legislature.

He called on voters to pick candidates who can defend the public's interests in the Jan. 12 legislative election.

"There were thousands of bills pending review in the legislature, but the legislature only passed 393 bills over the past three years. On average, it screened less than 11 bills a month," Chen said.

Chen said the number of bills passed showed the "inefficiency" of the legislature.

"But one thing that was ironic was that the pan-blue dominated legislature launched three motions to depose the president in half a year," he said.

Citing a draft bill for rebuilding farm villages (農村改建條例) as an example, Chen said that the stalling of the act in the legislature showed that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) did not care about the rights and interests of farmers.

"The draft bill was designed to improve public construction and boost the economy in rural villages. How could the KMT not realize that this was a priority, especially after Ma spent so much time in farming villages during his long-stay program?" Chen said.

An amendment to the Labor Insurance Regulations (勞工保險條例), a draft judges law (法官法), an amendment to the Referendum Law (公民投票法) and an amendment to the Trade Union Law (工會法) were just a few of the bills pending in the legislature, Chen said.

"These are all bills that concern people's lives and have nothing to do with `politics.' I can totally understand how people are frustrated with the legislature," he said.
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