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THREE PARTIES UNITED IN OPPOSING ABOLITION OF NUC

ROC Central News Agency

2006-02-27 16:40:01

    Taipei, Feb. 27 (CNA) Three opposition parties threatened Monday to resort to "whatever means necessary" to oppose the scrapping of the National Unification Council and its guidelines.

    In a news conference, the whips of the legislative caucuses of the Kuomintang (KMT) , People First Party (PFP) and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU) said they will demand that Premier Su Tseng-chang and related Cabinet ministers brief the legislature on the decision-making process of the policy, which was expected to be announced later in the day by President Chen Shui-bian.

    If that is not enough to stop the president from doing away with the NUC, the three parties claimed they might take more drastic steps such as boycotting the legislature, calling for a referendum on whether to abolish the guidelines, organizing national protests and pushing for a recall of the president.

    Explaining their options, KMT lawmaker Tseng Yung-chuan, who is the director of the KMT Policy Coordination Committee, said the premier should be accountable to the legislature for his administration's major policies such as the abolition of the NUC and its guidelines.

    Lawmaker Lee Hung-chun, the whip of the PFP legislative caucus, said the premier, who was believed to be trying to stay clear of the controversy, should come down from the fence and take responsibility for the government's decisions.

    Lawmaker Lu Hsueh-chang, convener of the PFP legislative caucus, said his party will favor a KMT lawmaker's proposal to recall the president if he insists on getting rid of the NUC.

    Noting that there are strict legal procedures to go through before the legislature can initiate a recall of the president, Lu said that even an unsuccessful recall could tarnish Chen by marking him down in history as the country's first president to be targeted in a recall.

    Kao Chin Su-mei, a lawmaker of the NPSU, said that the president is plunging the country and its people into danger by doing away with the guidelines and angering Beijing for his personal political purposes.

(By Maubo Chang)

ENDITEM/J