The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday criticized President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) over his support for a hotly contended amendment to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法).
Ma met rights activists and academics on Sunday to talk about the proposed law and said he had asked the Cabinet to reduce the fine for violators of the proposed law.
DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) told a press conference yesterday Ma was not sincere.
“He focused on the amount of the fine, but that is not the point. The point is Ma and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) want to use their power to restrict the public’s right to hold rallies,” Cheng said.
He said the DPP opposed the amendment, which would give police the right to ban a rally or change its route if they believed it would jeopardize national security, social order or it was against the public interest. The amendment also gives police the right to break up any rally that blocks traffic.
It is like a law from the Martial Law era, Cheng said.
Cheng called on the public to join the sit-in protest against the proposed amendment following the DPP’s rally on Sunday.
Meanwhile, pro-localization groups yesterday also called on young people to join the rally on Sunday.
Soochow University political science professor Luo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said Ma has said he would not be against negotiating political issues with China if he were re-elected in 2012 and as his policy of ultimate unification with China would decide the future of Taiwan’s younger generations, young people should express their opposition at the rally.
Speaking to China Television Co about the rally in an interview yesterday, Ma said he respected the DPP’s decision to protest and he was willing to listen to their voices.
He said the Presidential Office would have staff on duty to accept their petition on the day and he hoped to see the demonstration carried out in a peaceful and rational manner.
In related news, Taipei City Government last night gave the DPP permission to extend their protest on Ketagalan Boulevard through the night, dispelling concerns that the sit-in protest would be illegal and broken up by police.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING AND STAFF WRITER
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