ARMS DEAL PROBLEM SHOULD FIRST BE SETTLED BY CABINET: KMT CHAIRMAN
ROC Central News Agency
2005-09-07 15:09:24
Taipei, Sept. 7 (CNA) Opposition Kuomintang Chairman Ma Ying-jeou said Wednesday that the Cabinet should first settle the problems posed in the aftermath of the 2004 referendum if it wants to push for the passage of a long-stalled arms procurement bill in the Legislative Yuan.
Ma made the remarks while addressing a regular KMT Central Committee meeting on matters regarding the bill put forward by the Executive Yuan for legislative approval, according to the party's spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen.
Pointing out that one of the most important items that the Cabinet wants to buy from the United States is anti-missile equipment, the KMT head said that in the referendum held in 2004 on whether the country should strengthen its anti-missile defense capability, only 45.17 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots, making the referendum invalid.
Ma also said that President Chen Shui-bian had even stressed at the time that the referendum was more important than the presidential election, adding that in the wake of the issue relating to the procurement of anti-missile equipment being vetoed by the people, the administrative branch must come up with a solution to the problem posed by the referendum result. "Otherwise, the Legislative Yuan will be unable to examine the bill without breaking the law," Ma claimed.
The arms procurement bill has long been stalled in the legislature due to opposition from lawmakers of the "pan-blue alliance" of the Kuomintang and the People First Party.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, the items on the procurement list include eight diesel-powered submarines, six Patriot PAC III anti-missile batteries and 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft.
(By P.C.Tang)
Enditem/Li
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