Though receptive to the Cabinet's decision to halt reform of the grassroots cooperatives, lawmakers across party lines yesterday urged the government to shed more light on its intentions over the matter.
The KMT, which has opposed shutting down credit department of farmers' and fishermen's associations, pressed the DPP administration to "scrap" rather than "suspend" the planned reform.
Bowing to pressure from the two groups, the Cabinet said Sunday night it would indefinitely suspend a three-tier risk-control mechanism over those credit departments with outstanding non-performing loans and make the Council of Agriculture, instead of the Ministry of Finance, the supervisory agency of those institutions.
KMT legislative leader Lee Chuan-chia (李全教) said he suspected the policy turnaround is a gambit by the Cabinet to coax "hundreds of thousands" of farmers and fishermen to call off a mass protest scheduled for Saturday.
Earlier, President Chen Shui-bian (
"We demand the Cabinet scrap the risk-control measures altogether in a genuine show of goodwill," Lee told reporters in the KMT legislative caucus.
"The suspension may prove to be a moratorium. Once the planned protest is disbanded, the government may make another reversal," Lee said.
Over 100,000 farmers and fishermen nationwide have planned to stage a demonstration in Taipei this weekend to protest what they call the government's bid to wipe out the 304 farmer's and fishermen's associations.
Created during Japanese colonial rule, the associations provide a wide range of services, both technical and financial, to the two groups whose income lags behind the national average by 30 percent.
Lee also demanded an apology from the Cabinet for claiming the KMT has mobilized the protest in an attempt to protect the vested interests of its cronies in those organizations.
"The planned protest is spontaneous, so we respect the right of the participants if they intend to go ahead with the demonstration," the KMT legislator said.
KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and his PFP counterpart James Soong (宋楚瑜) have both agreed to take part in the protest, which also has the backing of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
KMT Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
He said the Cabinet should make clear how long the suspension will last and what it plans to do with the remaining credit departments in the future.
"A radical reform is unnecessary as many of them have improved their performance," Wang said.
Last year alone, the credit departments of those associations incurred a loss of NT$12.4 billion, or NT$100 million every three days, official statistics show.
As of the end of June this year, 21 percent of their loans lacked sufficient collateral, up from 8.6 percent in 1996.
PFP legislative leader Shen Chih-hwei (
"Throughout the uproar, the government has never said unequivocally what its agriculture policy is," Shen said. "The suspension of the risk-control measures does not help to clear things up."
Fellow PFP lawmaker Lee Hung-chun (
"By taking to the streets, the farmers want not only to defend their associations but also complain about their sliding standard of living," he said.
DPP legislative whip Wang Tuoh (
While understanding the need for a milder approach, Wang said the government's commitment to reform remained unchanged.
"I agree the Cabinet should soon come up with a timetable to resolve suspicions linked to the issue," he said.
Instead of forcefully taking over debt-ridden cooperatives, the government now says it will offer them assistance without elaborating how.
The TSU urged the protesters to cancel their demonstration, saying the Cabinet has learned of their wishes and made concessions accordingly.
The party, which has allied itself with the farmers on the policy debate, said continued protests would only harm political stability at odds with the effort to revive the economy, TSU legislative leader Su Ying-kwei (蘇盈貴) said.
Organizers said they will press ahead with the protest as scheduled.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at