• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

PFP MAKES VEILED THREAT TO KMT OVER STANCE ON ARMS BILL

ROC Central News Agency

2005-10-12 21:18:12

    Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) The opposition People First Party (PFP) renewed a thinly veiled threat Wednesday that if its ally, the Kuomintang (KMT) , relents in its opposition to the arms procurement bill, it will not get the PFP's help in blocking the party assets bill in the legislature aimed at depriving the KMT of its "improperly obtained" assets.

    Sun Ta-chien, a whip of the PFP legislative caucus, reiterated the PFP stand after the Cabinet approved the party assets bill, which will soon be introduced in the legislature by the legislative caucus of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

    Sun said the PFP caucus has also drafted its own version of the party assets bill but will refrain from introducing it as long as the KMT caucus does not let the arms procurement bill get out of the Procedure Committee for a vote in the Legislative Yuan meeting.

    He said he is confident that the KMT and the PFP are equally resolute in their positions regarding the two bills and will work hand in hand to block them from being passed.

    The "pan-blue alliance" of the KMT and the PFP enjoys a slim majority in the 225-seat legislature, but the KMT caucus must depend on the support of the 34 PFP legislators to maintain this advantage.

    The KMT claimed Wednesday that the party assets bill approved by the Cabinet is nothing but a tool of the DPP government to purge civic groups of their assets and is "clearly unconstitutional."

    The arms procurement bill is requesting a special budget of NT$610.8 billion 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.

    However, opposition legislators have blocked the bill 32 times in Procedure Committee meetings on the grounds that the cost is too high and that the money should come out of a normal budget rather than a special one.

(By Han Nai-kuo)

ENDITEM/mw