Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) yesterday responded to a call by civic groups to strictly review the bill on the free economic pilot zones, saying the bill is “vague” and “inappropriately written.”
“The Legislative Yuan plans to review the bill on the zones during the extra session next week, but the bill could have a huge impact on Taiwan’s economy, and thus should not be passed in such a short time without thorough discussions,” Tsai said after a meeting with representatives from several civic groups at DPP headquarters in the morning.
“I would like to call on the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] to sit down and have more meaningful discussions with the DPP on the issue,” she said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Tsai went on to say that the proposed bill is a vague legislative proposal without a clear objective and she did not think it could be helpful in boosting Taiwan’s economy.
She said the DPP would like a large-scale revision of the proposed bill, including better structured development strategies, advanced assessments and more clearly defined jurisdiction among different government authorities.
Ker also promised that the DPP caucus would be strict in reviewing the bill.
“In fact, the DPP caucus believes that the bill is very inappropriately written and would like the legislature to reject it,” Ker said. “However, the KMT insists on taking it and reviewing it, so what we can do now is play the role of a good gatekeeper.”
Representatives from Taiwan Labor Front, Citizens of the Earth Foundation, Alliance for a Fair Tax Reform, the Taiwan Association of University Professors (TAUP) and the Democratic Front Against the Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement yesterday visited the DPP headquarters and spoke with Tsai and Ker, urging the party to block the bill during the three-day extra session next week.
“The biggest dilemma of the government under the leadership of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is that it never has long-term planning in economic or national development strategies,” TAUP president Lu Chung-chin (呂忠津) said.
“The government grabs whatever it can, whenever problems occur, hoping to bring instant effects, but instead comes up with policies that can actually cause harm to the country, like the pilot zones plan,” Lu said. “The DPP must stop it, as it is the biggest opposition party.”
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