ARMS PROCUREMENT BILL MUST BE SETTLED SOON: KMT CHAIRMAN
ROC Central News Agency
2006-01-20 17:37:03
Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) Main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou said Friday that a key bill related to a major arms procurement package from the United States must be settled in the next legislative session.
Ma made the remarks at KMT headquarters during a meeting with a group of foreign dignities visiting Taiwan to attend the Jan. 23 World Freedom Day activities.
Ma confirmed that he met Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng Wednesday and that they exchanged opinions on the arms purchase bill and a disputed nomination list for Control Yuan members submitted by President Chen Shui-bian that also remains pending legislative approval.
According to Ma, Wang shared his view that the two issues should be resolved in the next legislative session through negotiations with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU).
But common ground on the two matters must be first found within the KMT, and the party will make public its own military procurement policy in February or March after relevant details have been elaborated upon and decided by the party's legislative caucus, he said.
As it would be an important step for the KMT to bring an end to the highly controversial weapons procurement bill issue at the Legislative Yuan, the party will fix a timetable for this purpose and seek negotiations with the DPP and the TSU in the next session.
According to the KMT chairman, this is also what he told Douglas Paal, outgoing director of the Taipei office of the American Institute in Taiwan, during a meeting early this week.
Commenting on the arms procurement package and the president's Control Yuan member nomination list later the same day, Wang, who is an influential figure in the KMT, confirmed that he did meet Ma and discussed the two bills with him Wednesday.
Wang expressed the hope that the KMT will come up with clear policies regarding the two issues in the next legislative session after it opens Feb. 21.
He hailed the KMT's "willingness and efforts to help" the ruling party break the impasse over the two issues at the Legislative Yuan, saying that whatever results might be produced will mean a conclusion to the disputes and help stabilize the political situation.
As to the stalled cross-Taiwan Strait relations, Wang commented that he does not think that the issue will remain unresolved, as members of the ruling DPP have called for an open debate to decide the party's line in this regard.
Yeh Yi-chin, a DPP legislative caucus whip, said at a news conference she called at the Legislative Yuan that the KMT should respect the government system and the Ministry of National Defense (MND) if it is sincere in resolving the two disputes.
The KMT must not insist on doing things its way just because it and its "pan blue alliance" allies -- the People First Party and the New Party -- maintain a slim majority at the legislature, she argued.
Tseng Yung-chun, head of the KMT's Policy Executive Committee, said that the party will review the MND's arms procurement package and put forward a version of its own that is "fully adequate" for Taiwan's national defense needs.
The KMT hopes to set the tone for the presidential list for Control Yuan members by the end of February, with the legislative approval threshold lifted to two-thirds of the lawmakers, he added.
TSU legislative caucus whip Ho Min-hao urged the "pan blue" lawmakers to deal with the major military purchase bill swiftly after the KMT unveils its version.
The "pan blue" lawmakers must not find any reason to prevent the bill from clearing the legislature, because protracted delays in its passage has seriously undermined national security, Ho said.
The arms procurement bill has failed to clear the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan more that 40 times due to the "pan blue" lawmakers' boycotts since the middle of 2004 over concerns about the government's already strained finances and the outdated specifications of the items for sale.
The bill, if approved, would allow the government to purchase eight diesel-electric submarines, six Patriot PAC III anti-missile batteries and 12 P-3C anti-submarine airplanes.
The Control Yuan member nomination list has been blocked since early last year by opposition lawmakers, who have questioned the qualifications of some of the 20-odd nominees recommended by the president.
(By Flor Wang)
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