President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday lauded Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators' efforts to pass the amendment to the Local Government Act (地方制度法) on Monday, vowing to assert the party's dominance in the legislature.
The KMT-dominated legislature pushed through the disputed amendment during a hastily arranged extra legislative session on Monday amid fistfights, yelling, shouting and pushing.
Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, said his party did not let the public down because it helped push through the legal revision in spite of opposition from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES
“It is not in the interest of one party, but the whole nation and the people,” he said.
“It will benefit not only the two parties, but also the public,” Ma said while chairing the party's weekly Central Standing Committee.
Ma criticized the DPP, saying it had really earned its name as an “opposition” party as it had opposed the bill simply for the sake of opposition.
“It's not a good phenomenon in a democracy,” he said.
“We respected the opinions of the minority parties, but they still boycotted the bill for no reason. I fully support the action taken by the KMT legislative caucus and hope to push through more bills using the same method,” the president said.
Ma said many were disappointed with the KMT because it could not pursue its agenda despite its legislative majority.
“It is not my problem alone, but that of the whole party,” he said. “As the chairman, I must change the situation. We are not the ruling party if we cannot make such changes.”
Ma's remark drew a round of applause from committee members.
KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世), who spoke before Ma during the meeting, threw down the gauntlet, saying the KMT legislative caucus would not seek war, but neither would it shy away if compromises fail to guarantee smooth passage of legislation.
Nonetheless, he urged the executive branch to strengthen its communications with the legislative branch.
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