The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday threatened to call for a vote on a disputed amendment to the Local Government Act (地方制度法) as the legislature is scheduled to decide today if and when to hold a provisional session to deal with the proposal.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) reiterated that DPP lawmakers would battle it out with their KMT counterparts if the latter insisted on passing the amendment, which the DPP caucus says infringes upon the rights of the mayors of new municipalities to appoint suitable district chiefs.
KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said his caucus would not hesitate to put the KMT’s latest proposal to a vote should the DPP caucus try to paralyze the session.
The KMT caucus initially proposed turning township heads of the five special municipalities into district directors, while turning township councilors into paid advisers of the directors after the municipalities are formed at the end of the year. The DPP caucus has accused the KMT caucus of trying to buy support for the KMT’s candidates in the year-end special municipality mayoral elections.
The bill failed to clear the legislative floor before the legislature went into recess on Tuesday because of a DPP caucus boycott.
On Friday, the KMT caucus proposed a revision, canceling the NT$45,000 monthly salary for the township councilors and setting a threshold for township chiefs and city mayors to be appointed as district directors. Township chiefs who have served two terms or have been convicted of treason, tax evasion or corruption, would be disqualified, the revision says.
The KMT caucus’ revised version still met with opposition from the DPP caucus.
Lee said the planned automatic appointment of township chiefs as district directors for four more years was unconstitutional, as it would infringe on the right of mayors of the new municipalities to appoint their own district chiefs.
The DPP will convene a party legislative caucus meeting to decide the party’s bottom line on the issue, Lee said.
If the KMT insists on pushing through its version during the planned provisional session in defiance of public opinion, “the DPP will be forced to go all out to block the passage of the amendments, and we will fight until the last minute,” Lee said.
During a gathering with a group of KMT lawmakers at the Presidential Office yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) urged KMT legislators to support the revised proposal.
Meanwhile, legislative watchdog Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) urged the legislature to keep everything that happens during cross-party negotiation sessions transparent and subject to public scrutiny.
CCW chief executive officer Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) issued a statement saying that even though the legislature passed an amendment to the Act Governing Legislators’ Exercise of Power (立法院職權行使法) in April 2008 to have the sessions recorded and made available to the public along with any conclusions reached during the negotiations, detailed negotiation processes remain non-transparent.
Ho also criticized the legislature’s failure to videotape and release footage of the sessions of the Procedure Committee on the Web.
“Only when the transparency of the legislature is ensured can legislators discipline themselves and improve the quality of their bills,” Ho said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG AND CNA
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