Tue, Jun 18, 2002 page3

• Budget fight looms in legislature

  SHOWDOWN Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou pressed lawmakers to include Taipei City in a special budget request for river dredging, drawing the ire of the DPP caucus

  • By Crystal Hsu / STAFF REPORTER
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  The Cabinet's special budget request promised to trigger another partisan war yesterday as the opposition KMT accused the government of excluding Taipei from the flood-prevention fund for political reasons.

  Meanwhile, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who visited the legislature to seek support, traded barbs with DPP lawmakers.

  The caucuses of the four main parties have all issued a top mobilization order asking members to attend the full meetings of the legislature this week when this and other key issues will be voted on.

  "There is simply not enough time for the legislature to review the proposed fund," KMT legislative whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) told a morning news conference. "The Cabinet did not file the request until last Friday."

  The lawmaking body will break up for the summer recess on Friday. It is due to wrap up legislative reviews today and hold confirmation votes on nominees for Examination Yuan and Control Yuan members Thursday and Friday.

  Lin suggested that a special session be convened to scrutinize the fund proposal, which is worth NT$33 billion.

  The legislature may hold an extraordinary session on the request of the president or one-fourth of its members.

  The Cabinet has said the money is intended to help prevent floods in areas along the 86km Keelung River before the typhoon season.

  The budget does not cover NT$1.9 billion asked by Ma to help prevent floods in the capital city.

  KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) said he suspected that the exclusion was part of a DPP campaign to ruin Ma's bid to be re-elected in December.

  Mu Ming-chu (穆閩珠), another KMT lawmaker, echoed the suspicion and demanded that Premier Yu Shyi-kun step down if Taipei suffered from flooding later this year.

  Ma paid a courtesy call to the legislature in the hope that lawmakers would adopt a resolution requiring the Cabinet to appropriate part of the extra funding to his constituency.

  "Taipei residents deserve the right to the same treatment as their counterparts in other parts of the country," Ma said. "The central government must not bypass the city when dealing with the flood problem."

  Ma's plea was greeted with criticism from the ruling DPP caucus.

  DPP lawmaker Lai Ching-te (賴清德) painted the mayor's visit as a political stunt and asked him to quit his grandstanding.

  "Don't you know that Taipei is far better equipped than other residential areas along the Keelung River when heavy rains hit," Lai said. "You should focus more of your energy on your work rather than finding fault with the Cabinet."

  DPP legislative whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) agreed, stressing that the central government never ignored the welfare of Taipei residents, many of whom are DPP supporters.

  Wang said he doubted the feasibility of calling a special legislative session, as colleagues across party lines have scheduled overseas trips.

  Fearing a public backlash, the PFP said it would give conditional approval to the extra funding.

  PFP legislative leader Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) said her party would adopt the budget request on condition that the Cabinet obtain consent from the legislature before spending the money.
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