The cancellation of a debate the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had planned on China policy shows the need for top officials in the party and the government to negotiate more coherent policymaking, DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday.
Yu made the remark in response to reporters' questions about the cross-strait economic policy debate that had been scheduled for last weekend.
The debate was canceled after the Executive Yuan's announced its "active management and effective opening" policy last Wednesday.
"The cancellation was caused by insufficient communication and coordination between the party and the government," Yu said.
"That is why I proposed building a mechanism that would enable the party and the government to discuss crucial policies before they are set during my chairmanship campaign," Yu said.
"I've seen the symptom and also prescription for it. Now it depends on whether people are willing to take it or not. Good medicine tastes bitter. I can't do anything about it if people are loath to take it," he said.
Yu added bluntly that the DPP will not resume debate on China policy because the Executive Yuan already has a clear plan.
"But if there will be another debate. It will focus on constitutional reform topics," Yu said.
Yu said he met with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Friday after he had canceled the debate. Yu said that the president had stressed that he was not involved in the Executive Yuan's policymaking process and that he understood and respected the party's decision.
"President Chen said he did not ask many questions about the progress of the active management' policy after he announced the policy direction on his New Year speech," Yu said.
"The president said the authorities concerned have handed in reports to him, but he had not expressed his opinions on them, he had only indicated that the policy should be managed in accordance with principles," Yu said.
Yu said that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) had also called him to explain the Cabinet's announcement. Su said that the coordination effort for the "active management" policy is being handled by the National Security Council and the Executive Yuan was basically respecting the council's resolution.
"That what Premier Su told me," Yu said.
Nevertheless, the cancellation of the debate proved the need for a mechanism to allow the party and the government to discuss crucial policies before they are publicly announced, Yu said.
"Such a mechanism would solve the long-standing problem of the party and the government having difficulty in communicating with each other without delays or misunderstandings," Yu said.
"I don't dare to say it could solve every problem but I believe it could resolve most of the problems," he said.
The mechanism would involve having regular meetings for top officials of the government departments and party departments to discuss significant policy proposals, including goals, implementation and status reports, which would have been prepared by their staffers or aides.
After the staff members had negotiated and confirmed the feasibility of the policy proposals, the polices could be signed or finalized by high-ranking party and Cabinet officials.
"Only by reaching a consensus first on vital policies can the distribution of duty and implementation proceed smoothly," Yu said.
"In fact, staff members have met four times since I became chairman. But it seems that we have to make the mechanism more effective than we expected," he said.
Meanwhile, the premier said yesterday that both sides should make allowances for each other due to their different positions.
Su made the remarks yesterday in a press conference when asked to comment on the cancellation of the debate.
"We didn't do very well in dealing with this thing, but that hasn't affected by good interactions with Yu Shyi-kun," Su said.
"As DPP chairman and premier, we have different points of views. We should try to understand each other better and show consideration for each other based on our different positions," he said.
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