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'PAN-GREEN' LAWMAKERS FORCE ARMS BILL ONTO LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

ROC Central News Agency

2005-12-20 17:52:53

    Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) "Pan-green" camp legislators pulled a fast one on their opposition "pan-blue alliance" colleagues at the Legislative Yuan's Procedures Committee Tuesday by calling for a snap vote on the long-stalled arms purchase bill when some opposition legislators were away at another meeting.

    At around noon time, when only five "pan-blue alliance" lawmakers were present at the meeting, one of the 12 lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), which form the "pan-green" camp, proposed a vote whether to put on the legislative agenda the arms bill and the review of the president's nominations for Control Yuan members.

    Committee chairman William C.T. Lai of the DPP ruled that a vote be held immediately to decide on DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung's proposal. By 12: 30 p.m., the committee had voted 12-5 to put the two matters on the legislature's meeting agenda, leaving the five "pan-blue alliance" legislators in a daze.

    This was the ruling camp's 42nd attempt to put the NT$480 billion arms purchase budget bill on the legislative agenda. That amount had been cut down from NT$610.8 billion. The funds are for the purchase of eight conventional submarines, 12 anti-submarine aircraft and six anti-missile batteries from the United States.

    Huang Yi-chiao, convener of the People First Party's legislative caucus, said Lai did not follow precedent by allowing all members to speak and called a surprise vote when other "pan-blue alliance" members were attending a legislative negotiation session chaired by Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng. "This was a very childish move," Huang said.

    Tseng Yung-chuan, executive director of the Kuomintang's (KMT) Central Policy Committee and party whip at the legislature, said Lai's snap vote "meant nothing" except to create legislative turmoil because it did not follow proper and legal procedures and is therefore "invalid and illegal."

    Tseng said lawmakers of the "pan-blue alliance" of KMT and PFP, who hold a slim majority, will simply return the two items to the Procedures Committee in Friday's legislative meeting.

    He criticized Lai for having acted "in a stupid way" by inciting a ruling-opposition division because the legislature was dealing with the government's overall budget bill, a time that he said calls for harmony, not stand-offs.

(By S.C. Chang)

ENDITEM/mw