CHEN PANS OPPOSITION PARTIES OVER ARMS PROCUREMENT BOYCOTT
ROC Central News Agency
2005-10-18 00:41:07
Taipei, Oct. 17 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian slammed two major opposition parties Monday for their obstinate opposition to his administration's plan to procure a robust package of weapons from the United States.
Chen fired barrage the of criticism of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) in a taped interview broadcast late Monday night on SETTV, a cable news channel.
The "pan-blue alliance" of the KMT and the PFP has used its slim majority in the Legislative Yuan to prevent the arms procurement package from being put onto the legislative agenda more than 30 times in the past year.
Claiming that the two parties have opposed the package for partisan reasons, Chen said he sees little possibility that the legislature's rules committee would place the arms bill onto the legislative agenda before the Dec. 3 "three-in-one" elections.
Listed in the arms package are eight diesel-electric submarines, six Patriot PAC III anti-missile batteries and a squadron of 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft.
Chen said all of the three big-ticket weapons in the package were broached by the previous KMT administration. "It is regrettable that the KMT and its splinter group -- the PFP -- have changed their position after losing power," Chen said.
In the face of China's military threat, Chen said Taiwan badly needs new weapons to safeguard its national security. Chen said he aspires to listen to public opinion about the issue.
Noting that his term of office will expire on May 19, 2008, Chen said his administration's push for the arms procurement package is not for partisan interests but purely for national defense needs.
(By Sofia Wu)
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