Wed, Mar 23, 2005 page3

• Pan-blues kill arms bill again

  NATIONAL DEFENSE Despite a major concession in cost by the pan-greens, the opposition parties refused to consider the special arms budget, calling it unneeded

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  Due to opposition from the pan-blue alliance, the special arms procurement bill failed to pass the legislature's Procedure Committee yesterday, the first attempt after the government adjusted the budget ceiling downward to NT$480 billion.

  Also failing to pass the committee were five bills proposed by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislative caucus.

  They are the anti-invasion peace bill (反侵略和平法), the technology protection bill (科技保護法), national loyalty bill (國家忠誠法), the bill regarding the disposition of assets improperly obtained by civil associations (人民團體不當取得財產處理條例) and draft amendments to the Referendum Law (公投法).

  TSU caucus whip Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) said that his caucus had originally planned to ask the committee to vote on the special arms budget bill and decide whether to push it to the defense committee for review.

  However, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus asked him to drop the proposal, taking into consideration the numerical disadvantage of the pan-green camp, Lo said.

  People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lee Yung-ping (李永萍) said that it would be inappropriate to send the arms bill for committee review, because the government is not in a position to include Patriot missiles in the bill.

  "The referendum held in tandem with the presidential election last year vetoed the question that the nation should beef up its missile defense in the face of Chinese ballistic missile deployments," she said. "While the DPP government should have respected the decision of the people, it has apparently turned a deaf ear to it."

  Lee said that her caucus has never opposed the arms procurement plan. What they oppose instead is an arms budget that is outrageously costly and earmarked as a special budget to circumvent the Budget Law (預算法), she said.

  Although the cost of the arms budget stipulated in the bill had been adjusted downward, Lee said that the budget is still designated as "special" and the price of the weapons systems is still disgracefully expensive.

  "It is nothing but old wine stored in a new bottle," she said.

  Echoing Lee's opinion, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Chen Chieh (陳杰) called on the defense ministry to take into account the government's financial plight while marking down the budget.

  Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Lai Ching-teh (賴清德) said that he felt sorry about the Procedure Committee's withholding the arms bill.

  "While the duty of the Procedure Committee is to set the agenda for the plenary session, it has instead usurped the job of the legislative committees to debate a bill," Lai said.

  Meanwhile, cross-party negotiations conducted to discuss the formation of a second investigation committee of the election-eve assassination attempt and a second legislative resolution to counter China's "Anti-Secession" Law fell flat yesterday.

  The DPP caucus argued that the March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee Statute (三一九槍擊事件真相調查特別委員會條例) should be amended before the second investigation committee is formed.

  The KMT caucus, however, said that the establishment of the committee can be concurrent with legal revisions.

  While the pan-blue camp is willing to revamp the disputed articles, KMT Legislator Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said that the pan-green camp should have allowed the formation of a second committee.

  DPP caucus whip Chao Yung-ching (趙永清) said that his caucus will only agree to set up an investigation committee that is legal and constitutional.
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