A dinner hosted by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers turned into a purely social event last night, despite legislators saying beforehand they would take the opportunity to raise complaints.
Media had expected the dinner at the Presidential Office to be a heated affair, predicting KMT lawmakers would vent grievances following the party’s recent string of election defeats.
More than 20 KMT lawmakers had said prior to the dinner that they would take the chance to offer suggestions to Ma, who also serves as KMT chairman.
KMT Legislator Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌) said he persuaded his colleagues to concentrate on the food.
“I told [them] that we were likely to get stomach ulcers if we talked about serious issues while eating and they all agreed. We can find a better time to offer suggestions,” Hsu told reporters after the dinner.
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said the lawmakers gave up the chance to give Ma suggestions after Hsu’s appeal.
KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said they agreed to find another time to meet in groups with the president to exchange opinions “seriously, honestly and candidly.”
Although a discussion on the KMT’s electoral woes was scrapped, the lawmakers did discuss a proposed trade pact with China, US beef imports and swine flu vaccines, Lin said.
Ma seemed to be in a good mood and his faith in the government’s policies made the lawmakers feel more optimistic, Lin said.
In his speech, Ma promised to keep the legislature informed during the negotiations for the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) his administration hopes to sign with Beijing in May.
Saying communication between the executive and legislative branches over the past few months could have been better, Ma asked the lawmakers to “look ahead” as the ECFA negotiations get underway later this month.
“There are likely to be several sessions,” he said, adding that the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council would report “key points” of the deal to legislative caucuses before conducting the negotiations.
The two agencies would explain the negotiation progress to lawmakers and other government agencies as long as the discussions would not affect the negotiations, he said.
“Such a process will be repeated until the deal is signed,” he said. “The accord will also be reviewed by the legislature because it requires amendments to the law.”
Asking the lawmakers to help him promote the ECFA, Ma said the administration would also ask businesses that would benefit from the pact to join the public relations campaign.
“[The ECFA] will be a strategic feat for Taiwan and is very important for Taiwan’s economic development,” he said.
The government will not initially open the market for those businesses negatively affected by the deal, he said.
The banquet lasted for about two hours and Ma spent most of the dinner moving from table to table, Hsu said.
Earlier in the day, a number of KMT legislators had urged their chairman to hold someone responsible for the party’s defeat in Saturday’s by-elections in three counties.
KMT Legislator Ho Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳) said it was unreasonable for the party to remain mum, although she wouldn’t say if she thought either Ma or KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) were to blame.
“Everyone should review himself or herself, and so should I,” she said.
KMT Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) said the party needed to propose concrete plans to reform itself instead of simply talking about reform, while Lo said it would be necessary for Ma to reshuffle personnel both in the party and the government.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN AND FLORA WANG
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