President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday said that he will sign legislation on the National Assembly's operations into law but issue a note indicating his different stance on the ratification threshold for constitutional amendments.
"I'd rather be recalled than violate the Constitution," Chen was quoted as saying by a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) official, who attended a luncheon with the president at the Taipei Guest House yesterday afternoon.
Chen was referring to a remark made by former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (
The president is required to make public the statute within 10 days of its May 20 passage through the Legislative Yuan.
CABINET WON'T GET INVOLVED
Premier Frank Hsieh (
The premier told Lin yesterday morning that the reason for this was that the legislation was not drafted by the government.
He said he would hate to see the assembly face the predicament of not being able to perform its duties if the government opted for such a dramatic measure.
According to the official, yesterday's luncheon turned into an occasion for complaints.
A LITANY OF COMPLAINTS
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (
"I had my resignation ready on May 14 [the day of the National Assembly elections]," he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Vice President Annette Lu (
In addition to asking party members to have faith in the party and to be united, Chen repeated his determination to reconcile with opposition parties.
He also asked DPP members to take advantage of the party's Central Standing Committee meetings as a platform for voicing their ideas.
Chen said that he would also like to see the DPP's three caucus whips participating in the meetings in order to help them keep abreast of party policy.
EXTRA SESSION
The president also said he hoped to see the legislature hold an extraordinary meeting in late July to deal with several outstanding important bills and budgets, including the long-obstructed weapons-procurement bill and the bill confirming his selection of Control Yuan members.
With the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to elect a new chairman in mid-July and "China fever" on the wane, Chen said, there should be "a change in the political climate" by that time.
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