Thu, Nov 25, 2004 page3

• Lien Chan offers olive branch

  ANNIVERSARY RALLY The KMT would cooperate on cross-strait relations and the arms budget if the DPP agreed to a few conditions, the KMT's chairman said

  • By Caroline Hong / STAFF REPORTER
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  Offering a conditional olive branch to the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) administration, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday said that should the president be willing to make certain concessions regarding a controversial NT$610.8 billion arms budget and Taiwan's national title, the KMT and the pan-blue alliance would work with the administration to push forward policy initiatives.

  Speaking at a rally in Taoyuan celebrating the 110th anniversary of the KMT's founding, Lien told supporters that the KMT was willing to help the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration in two main areas, in the interests of answering the public's wishes for stability and unity.

  

  Chinese Nationalist Party Chairman Lien Chan yesterday leads the party's five vice chairmen to the CKS Memorial Hall to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek as part of the party's 110th anniversary celebration.

  PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES

  halve arms budget

  Lien urged the Chen administration to cut the value of a controversial NT$610.8 billion arms purchase deal in half.

  The NT$610.8 billion arms purchase special budget has met with heavy resistance from social groups and opposition parties since the Cabinet proposed it earlier this year. Up until now, the government has been unable to pass the statute allowing it to form special budget proposals and the budget plan itself through the legislature's Procedure Committee, which decides the agenda for each legislative sitting. It has been unclear whether the statute and budget will be able to gain enough pan-blue support to enter the legislative agenda once the legislature reconvenes after the legislative elections.

  Should the DPP and Chen cut the budget by NT$300 billion, Lien promised that the pan-blue camp would allow the special budget to enter the legislature and expedite its review with all possible speed as soon as the legislative elections were over.

  319 committee

  Lien also said that should the Chen administration agree to undergo an open and just evaluation by the 319 Special Truth Investigation Committee, not hinder the committee's operations, and not use political pressure to affect the nation's justice system, the pan-blue camp would accept the findings of the committee and the judicial system."

  Lien further reiterated his call for the Chen administration to hold a referendum on independence, in order to highlight the danger the administration's pro-independence tendencies pose to the nation.

  Lien criticized the Chen administration for creating social instability with moves such as his recent talk of a "soft coup." Because of the DPP's selfish determination to monopolize government branches and solidify its political power, it has sacrificed the interests of the Taiwanese people, Lien said. As result, it is crucial that the pan-blue camp win a majority in the year-end legislative elections, he said, touching on the theme of last night's rally.

  With only two weeks left before the legislative elections on Dec. 11, the anniversary celebration last night also served as a rally for the party's legislative hopefuls in Taoyuan, Miaoli and Hsinchu, with KMT heavyweights such as Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) calling for a pan-blue majority in the year-end elections.

  merger talk

  Throughout the celebration, there was little mention of the agreement between the KMT and People First Party (PFP) to sign an official declaration of intent about merging the two parties in February.

  Media reports had identified the KMT's anniversary as a potential date for the parties' representatives to sign the merger agreement.

  The two parties' failure to sign the agreement -- which would have set a February date for the merger and confirmed the retention of the title "Chinese National Party" for the post-merger party, along with the absence of representatives from either the New Party or the PFP at yesterday's event, has led to further media speculation that the atmosphere is less than amicable between the two "allies" at this critical time before the legislative elections.

  Both the PFP and the KMT, however, downplayed the significance of the merger agreement, saying that their focus right now is on the Dec. 11 poll.

  Speaking at the National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei yesterday, Lien told reporters that the merger between the KMT, the PFP and the New Party was on schedule as part of the parties' general direction. However, all parties are still in the midst of legislative campaigns, he said.

  While stumping for PFP candidates in Nantou County yesterday, PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) told reporters that he wished the KMT a happy birthday. The PFP will discuss plans for and the structure of the merger with the KMT next February, Soong said, while urging the KMT to regain its historical fighting spirit for use in this December's legislative elections.

  In response to Lien's comments at the KMT's anniversary rally, Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), director of the DPP's Information and Culture Department Director said the DPP welcomes the opposition party's concern for national affairs and the government.

  "However, the KMT doesn't have to set any presupposition or conditions when it comes to engaging in a governmental organization," Cheng said. "All the parties should hold a consistent stance and work together to find common ground for the country."

  Cheng also said it was obvious that the 319 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee is unconstitutional and as such could not conduct investigations.

  "The president proposed the pan-blue camp adopt an investigation committee led by incumbent Control Yuan President Fredrick Chien (錢復), however, it was the pan-blues who rejected this suggestion," Cheng said.

  "Besides, the Grand Justices will also release their constitutional interpretation on the special committee soon and we can see if Lien's suggestion could meet the interpretation," Cheng said.

  As for Lien's call for a referendum on Taiwan's independence, Cheng said the DPP's Resolution on Taiwan's Future (台灣前途決議文) has clearly shown that only when Taiwan's future is about to be changed will a referendum on independence be held, therefore, Lien's suggestion was meaningless.

  with additional reporting by Jewel Huang
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