Policy debate is an obligation of any political leader, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, responding to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) informal invitation to a public debate.
Ma made the comments in an interview with cable network CTiTV on Friday when asked if he would be willing to hold a debate with Tsai on the controversial government-proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing.
“Sure, if the issue is the ECFA, I would be willing to enter into a debate,” Ma said, adding that he was open to any forms of “discussion” on the issue and that all of his top aides, including Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), would be up for the challenge.
While the pan-green camp said signing an ECFA would greatly damage Taiwan’s economy, especially local industries such as towel and shoe manufacturing, the government said not signing the trade pact would weaken Taiwan’s competitiveness in Asia.
During the interview, Ma acknowledged that some local industries would likely be adversely affected by an ECFA, but “the government will provide the necessary protective measures.”
Tsai said yesterday that holding debates on major policies has been the DPP’s longstanding practice because it believes that holding policy debates is “a responsibility of political leaders” and “a must in a democratic society.”
“But a basic principle of any debate is to have sufficient information on the topic,” she said. “What the government has done so far is mere propaganda, which is not something that a responsible government should be doing.”
She said the debate should be held at all levels, and that the most important thing is for the government to clearly state what it wants to do, how it plans to execute its plans and how it will assess the plan.
The DPP called on Ma to issue a formal invitation to Tsai and stop spreading the message through the airwaves.
At a separate setting yesterday, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) also urged the Ma administration to give more details about the ECFA.
“The government should explain [the ECFA] better. Right now, no one is clear what it’s all about,” Lee said when asked for comment on the possible debate. “Tsai should ask [Ma] to clarify everything.”
Commenting on the government’s plan to sign an ECFA next year, Lee said that the government should be fully prepared before doing so.
“It doesn’t help to rush it,” Lee said on the sidelines of an event in Taipei yesterday promoting the nation’s oranges.
During a TV interview on Friday, Ma said that so far the government had not been clear on the details of an ECFA, but once bilateral negotiations with Beijing produce more visible results, the government would spend more effort explaining the pact to the public.
Wu said he approved of the idea of a debate, adding it would draw people’s attention to the issue and help them understand the benefits and impact of an ECFA.
Wu said the government had not been able to clearly explain the details of the ECFA to the public because there had been no substantial results from negotiations with China.
However, lists of products to be covered by an early harvest program under the trade deal are taking shape, he said.
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