Angered by President Chen Sui-bian's (陳水扁) announcement that the name "Taiwan" will be added in roman script to the cover of ROC passports yesterday, pro-China lawmakers from opposition parties are threatening to cut the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by NT$100 million.
In addition, they also vowed to cut the Presidential Office's budget by NT$25 million and said that Chen should be impeached for "violating the Constitution" through "changing the nation's official name."
In reaction to their remarks, a DPP party whip said yesterday that their response was against the tide of public opinion.
Immediately after Chen made the announcement yesterday afternoon, KMT lawmaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) told the media that the KMT, PFP and the New Party would mobilize their members to cut the budget of the foreign ministry and the Presidential Office in Wednesday's full-member joint committee meeting of the legislature.
Hung claimed that "the eventual intention behind this is to change the nation's title, and gradually pursue the goal of de-Sinicization which cannot be accepted by the opposition parties."
Chen claimed yesterday that adding the name "Taiwan" to the passport's cover was a measure intended merely to distinguish ROC passports from PRC ones.
Until Friday, when the current legislature is dissolved, the opposition parties control 138 of the legislature's 225 seats.
PFP legislator Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) said that the PFP would seek other opposition parties' support to develop a strategy against Chen's decision.
"Chen has violated the [nation's] Constitution by indirectly changing the nation's title through adding the word `Taiwan' to the passport, which is ridiculous," said Chou.
Chou said cutting the budget is not the strategy the opposition parties should adopt.
"He [Chen] should be impeached if he is found to have violated the Constitution" Chou said.
Reacting to the opposition lawmakers' intended move, Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), a DPP legislative whip, said that according to a poll conducted by the foreign ministry last year when the ministry raised the issue of adding "Taiwan" to the passport, the rate of public support was as high as 75 percent.
Tsai added that if opposition lawmakers insisted on cutting the ministry's budget, they were acting against the wishes of the majority of people of Taiwan.
"We will show the opposition parties on Monday the figures from the poll. And if we still can't reach a consensus [with them], we will mobilize DPP legislators to support the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidential Office budgets," said Tsai.
Commenting on the opposition lawmakers' threat, Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文), one of the DPP's founding members and a senior advisor to the president, said that there are only a few opposition lawmakers truly against the new measure.
"I doubt if the opposition parties can mobilize all their members against the budget," Yao said.
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