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MA DENIES HE WILL HELP SPECIAL ARMS BUDGET BILL PASS

ROC Central News Agency

2005-09-30 22:12:54

    Taipei, Sept. 30 (CNA) The chairman of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) denied speculation Friday that he is prepared to let the long-stalled special arms procurement budget bill be listed on the legislative agenda for review.

    Ma Ying-jeou, who is also mayor of Taipei, made the denial when asked to comment on an allegation by independent Legislator Li Ao that Ma has instructed one of his deputies, John C. Kuan, to set up a task force to study how to get the bill listed on the legislative agenda.

    Ma stressed that the decision on whether the bill should be put on the agenda lies with the KMT's legislative caucus, which will have to form a consensus on the issue.

    Li, a noted writer who has written more than 100 books, returned to Taiwan from a visit to China Friday. He vowed that he would make retaliatory moves against the KMT if Ma should let the bill slip onto the legislative agenda.

    Another factor that makes the passage of the bill in the legislature unlikely is the obstruction by another major opposition party, the People First Party (PFP), which has vowed never to let the bill pass the Procedure Committee.

    The Procedure Committee has blocked the bill 30 times in more than one year. The opposition lawmakers, who have a slight majority in the legislature, said the requested budget of NT$610.8 billion is too high and that the procurement should be funded through a regular defense budget rather than a special budget.

    The government led by the Democratic Progressive Party plans to purchase eight diesel-electric submarines, a squadron of 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft and six Patriot PAC III anti-missile batteries from the United States.

    There has been speculation that the KMT has softened its opposition to the bill under pressure from the U.S. government and in consideration of the fact that the Ministry of National Defence agreed in September to list the financing for the Patriot anti-missile batteries in the regular budget, causing the proposed special budget in the bill to drop to NT$340 billion.

(By Han Nai-kuo)

ENDITEM/mw