The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday expressed pessimism over the possibility of cooperation with the People First Party (PFP), as that party's position on the party assets probe law remains ambiguous.
The DPP caucus has removed the phrase "improperly obtained" from the proposed Disposition of Assets Improperly Obtained by Political Parties Law (政黨不當取得財產處理條例), which was a condition set by the PFP for cooperation on the draft bill to examine and dispose assets obtained by parties and affiliated agencies. The draft bill is expected to go to the procedural committee for review in today's legislative session as soon as the DPP and PFP caucuses reach a consensus.
But DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) yesterday expressed disappointment after the latest development.
"The DPP was once pleased with the idea of working together with the PFP in the legislature. But our expectation has dramatically fallen. The orange is stiff without a drop of juice," Lee said.
"The orange" refers to the PFP for its orange-color party emblem.
Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), another DPP caucus whip, yesterday doubted the possibility of the party assets law to clear the legislative floor due to the PFP's ambiguity toward the bill.
Although PFP caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) said the party would cooperate with the DPP on the legislation if the DPP removed the words "improperly obtained" from the law's title, PFP members are split over whether to make good on their word.
According to reports, PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄) and Liu were firm supporters of DPP-PFP cooperation in order to teach the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) a lesson after the KMT's mean campaign strategy against the PFP in the run-up to the legislative election.
PFP legislators Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), Sun Ta-chien (孫大千), Lee Yung-ping (李永萍), Chao Liang-yen (趙良燕) and Ke Shu-min (柯淑敏) yesterday held a press conference to voice opposition to cooperation with the DPP.
The lawmakers urged the PFP caucus not to help push through the draft bill to committee review today for fear of misunderstanding that the PFP is engaged in infighting with the KMT.
In response to the PFP legislators' opposition, Liu yesterday said the caucus will first convene a meeting this morning in a bid to reach a consensus before deciding whether to help the DPP push through the draft bill for legislative review.
Lee Chun-yee said yesterday even if the PFP would give a push to the party assets legislation, there won't be enough time for the draft bill to pass in this session.
"Since we have to work on the party assets law again for gaining the legislative approval in the next session, cooperation with the PFP on the draft bill in this session is more symbolic than essential," Lee Chun-yee said.
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