All eight legislative standing committees yesterday simultaneously approved a statement proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to convey the legislature's attitude toward bids for membership in the UN and other important international organizations.
KMT caucus whip Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said that while the statement is not a binding resolution, it shows that the KMT supports Taiwan's bid to join the UN and other international organizations.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus, however, accused the KMT of acting like a dictator by taking advantage of its legislative majority to approve the resolution, titled "Taiwanese People's Demand to Enter the UN."
"This is simply an excuse for [the KMT] to encourage their supporters to boycott the referendums [on membership in the UN]," DPP caucus whip William Lai (
Lai said that the DPP caucus' policy is clear, and that the referendums have nothing to do with the KMT resolution.
He said he was angered by the KMT's actions.
The KMT statement said that "since the seventh legislature representing the latest public opinion of the Republic of China has been elected, the legislature should pass an explicit resolution to help other countries and international organizations understand that the people of our nation are willing to actively participate in and make a contribution to [the international community]."
"Such a resolution should be reached in an attempt to reflect the Taiwanese people's wish to enter the UN and broaden the scope of the nation's participation in global bodies," the statement said.
"The legislature should also urge the government to make efforts to seek participation with the help of our allies; in accordance with public opinion," it said.
When approached by reporters before yesterday's standing committee meetings, Fai urged the DPP caucus not to try to block the statement from being put to Friday's plenary session agenda during today's Procedure Committee meeting. He said the KMT caucus hoped the statement would pass its third reading on Friday.
That could pose a problem, because the statement was not submitted in accordance with legislative procedure. The Legislative Yuan's regulations state that any proposal should be initiated at the Procedure Committee, which then determines whether to include the proposal in the plenary session agenda. A proposal is not to be put to committee review until the plenary session decides to do so.
DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee (
Lee said he immediately opposed the move, but the committee approved the resolution anyway.
"Wouldn't you call that a dictatorship?" Lee said.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
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