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LEGISLATURE REJECTS REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION OF REFERENDUM BILL

2003-12-19 23:14:16

    Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) The opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan rejected the Executive Yuan's request to reconsider the newly enacted Referendum Bill Friday evening, dealing another blow to the administration of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

    The two leading opposition parties, the Kuomintang (KMT) and the People First Party, which command a narrow majority of 112 seats in the 223-seat legislature, was one vote short of the number of votes they needed to turn down the request because one of the KMT lawmaker was overseas on vacation.

    However, they managed to win over the support of seven independents and defeated the request 118 to 95.

    Jubilant opposition lawmakers claimed it was a victory for the people because they scuttled the Executive Yuan's attempt to nix the newly created right of referendum.

    KMT whip at the Legislative Yuan Lee Chia-chin urged the Executive Yuan to stop its fruitless political struggle with the Legislative Yuan now that it has exhausted all avenues to kill the Referendum Bill and devote its energy to implementing the bill faithfully.

    Premier Yu Shyi-kun kept a stiff upper lip after the vote although he said earlier in the day that he will not step down even though the request was rejected. He warned that the ill-thought out bill could hardly be put into practice even the legislature stands by it.

    Not surprisingly, the ruling DPP lawmakers were disappointed with the result. Party whip at the Legislative Yuan Chen Chi-mai said the DPP will address the flaws in the bill either by amending the Constitution, revising the Referendum Bill after it takes effect or asking the Council of Grand Justices to determine whether the bill is unconstitutional.

    The DPP's political ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), said the rejection is a setback for the country's democracy. It brought home to the public the need to reform the legislature, which is controlled by the opposition, and which has become the biggest source of disturbance in the country.

    The Referendum Bill at the center of the controversy is the brainchild of the DPP, but the opposition at the legislature outmaneuvered the ruling party by packing it with their own ideas and steamrolling it through the legislature on Nov. 27.

    The disappointed Executive Yuan decided to ask the legislature to reconsider 12 of the 64 articles of the bill last Thursday, calling them unacceptable.

    Notable among them were articles giving the Legislative Yuan the power to initiate referendums while denying the Executive Yuan a similar right, and articles providing for the formation of a referendum review committee which would duplicate the function of the existing Central Election Commission.

    Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng said the Executive Yuan's request is unprecedented in that it challenges only part of the bill and in some cases, even only a section of an article. "Usually, we are called upon to deal with a whole article rather than a section of it, " Wang said,

    Under the Constitution, the part of a bill returned by the Executive Yuan will be automatically annulled unless the Legislative Yuan rejects the request within 15 days with a majority vote of at least 112 in the 223-seat legislature.

(By Maubo Chang)

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