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LAWMAKERS DEBATE VICE DEFENCE CHIEF'S REFERENDUM LOGIC

ROC Central News Agency

2005-09-29 17:40:29

    Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Both ruling and opposition lawmakers challenged Vice Minister of National Defense Tsai Ming-hsien's argument Thursday that even though the 2004 arms purchase referendum did not receive enough voter participation to be considered valid, the government can still propose a budget for buying anti-missile equipment.

    In a report to the Legislative Yuan's National Defense Committee, Tsai said that because in the referendum people were asked to vote on "increasing anti-missile devices, " which is unrelated to a government policy adopted in 1998 to purchase Patriot III anti-missile batteries, the government would be merely "continuing" that policy by requesting a NT$140 billion budget for buying the anti-missile batteries.

    The relevant question from the referendum was: "The people of Taiwan demand that the Taiwan Strait issue be resolved through peaceful means. Should mainland China refuse to withdraw the missiles it has targeted at Taiwan and openly renounce the use of force against us, would you agree that the government should acquire more advanced anti-missile weapons to strengthen Taiwan's self-defense capabilities?"

    In response to opposition lawmakers' charge that he was using "twisted logic, " Tsai said an invalid referendum does not mean the government henceforth cannot push for a budget to acquire Patriot III missiles, and if that can be described as "twisted logic, " then he said he was "twisting it correctly."

    People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chao Liang-yen pointed out that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has bound its own hands and feet, like a silkworm restraining itself in its own cocoon, by initiating a referendum that was invalidated.

    Now, she said, the vice minister is demonstrating "a lawyer's traits" by "twisting the logic, " and when that isn't successful, he simply goes on to "play the rogue" with an eye-opening performance.

    Even Tsai's fellow DPP lawmaker, Lee Wen-chung, joined the ranks of oppositionists, questioning him why in the first place should the government push for a referendum, which was supposed to make up for the shortfalls of representative politics, if in any way the government was to push a policy that would be invalidated in a referendum?

    Lee suggested that if the ruling and opposition parties remain bogged down on the issue, they could request that the Council of Grand Justices give a legal solution.

    Tsai told a DPP caucus meeting that if the "pan-blue alliance" of the Kuomintang and the PFP removed the Patriot III budget from the overall budget bill before putting it on the legislative agenda, the Ministry of National Defense will likely request a constitutional interpretation.

    DDP Legislator Tang Huo-sheng said the arms purchase issue is now beyond the legislature's ability to solve. He suggested that DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang invite the leaders of all political parties for a meeting to break the impasse.

(By S.C. Chang)

ENDITEM/mw