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DPP walks out of ECFA review
‘ONE-PARTY SHOW’: DPP Secretary-General Lee Chun-yee said his party would
continue to ‘monitor’ events from outside the legislature
By Flora Wang and Vincent Y. Chao
STAFF REPORTERS
Saturday, Jul 10, 2010, Page 1
Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers (front
rows) chant slogans as they prepare to walk out of the legislature yesterday in
protest against the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) handling of the review of
a trade pact with China.
PHOTO: SAM YEH, AFP
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday withdrew from the
provisional legislative session called to review the Economic Cooperation
Framework Agreement (ECFA) with Beijing after the legislature ruled to allow the
agreement to skip a committee review.
DPP legislators chanted “democracy has already died, the public needs to save
Taiwan” as they walked off the legislative floor after Chinese Nationalist Party
(KMT) lawmakers voted down their own caucus’ proposal to reconsider Thursday’s
decision.
The KMT caucus’ move yesterday was part of its strategy to push the ECFA through
the one-month negotiation period, and thereby prevent the DPP caucus, which
alleged Thursday’s procedure was flawed, from filing a reconsideration proposal
of Thursday’s ruling later. If the DPP caucus filed a reconsideration proposal,
it would have changed the end date of the one-month period.
Legislative procedures allow any bill or proposal referred to cross-party
negotiation to be put on hold for up to one month. As the result of the KMT
caucus' move yesterday, it means the earliest the legislature could pass the
ECFA is Aug. 8, when the one-month period ends.
On Thursday, despite lawmakers throwing objects, splashing water, pushing and
shoving, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) announced he would adopt the
KMT caucus’ motion to allow the ECFA and a cross-strait copyright protection
agreement to skip the preliminary review.
The DPP caucus later challenged Wang’s announcement, with DPP Secretary-General
Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) saying the speaker had failed to call for a vote even though
the DPP caucus voiced opposition to the KMT caucus’ motion.
Wang stood by his decision when asked for comment yesterday.
“As the speaker standing on the podium, I did not hear anyone express his or her
opposition [to the motion]. [In fact], I could not hear anything at all because
of the chaos in front of me,” Wang said. “If I had heard something, I would have
dealt with [the opposition] in accordance with legislative procedures.”
DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) said that the DPP caucus’ boycott occured
because the two sides could not reach common ground on the review of the ECFA.
The DPP caucus wants a clause-by-clause review of the agreement with votes on
every single article while the KMT caucus wants a single vote for the entire
ECFA package.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said earlier in the week that an individual review
was unnecessary and would compromise Taiwan’s ability to negotiate free-trade
agreements with other countries.
Chai said Ma’s comments showed the legislature has already lost its autonomy. He
said the legislative process had been interrupted by Ma.
“The rest of the session will be the KMT’s one-party show,” Lee said.
The provisional legislative session is scheduled to run till Wednesday.
The DPP will continue to supervise relevant developments from outside the
legislative system, he said, meaning through civic groups, public opinions and
possibly demonstrations.
While KMT caucus secretary--general Lin Tsang-min (林滄敏) accused the DPP of
“lying” about its promise to be the gatekeeper for the public during the ECFA
review, the DPP caucus said its decision to boycott was done with the full
support of DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Newly elected DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that if the trade pact
was reviewed as a package, it would set a -dangerous precedent for future
cross-strait agreements because lawmakers would lose their authority to alter
the content of such deals.
Tsai told reporters she was concerned that the review would not address many of
the public concerns that have been raised over the agreement.
“The attitude by the KMT doesn’t leave any room for the concerns of either the
opposition party or members of the public worried about the ECFA,” she said.
Thursday’s brawl was regrettable, she said, but it occurred because DPP
lawmakers were not able to “reasonablely discuss and review” the trade agreement
because of the government’s interference.
The DPP caucus is expected to spend their time away from the provisional session
in town hall meetings nationwide.
The meetings are expected to focus on the ECFA’s potential impact on Taiwan.
DPP lawmakers say the trade pact will impact the unemployment rate and damage
fragile industries through an influx of cheaper Chinese goods. The KMT
government says that claim has been blown out of proportion.
At a separate setting yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) called for a
“gentleman movement” in the legislature.
He expressed regret over Thursday’s clash, and urged legislators to exercise
self-restraint on the legislative floor.
“Maybe we should promote the gentleman movement in the legislature, and help our
legislators act more maturely, so that the legislative matters will run more
smoothly,” Ma said.
Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) condemned the DPP for using
violence in the legislative session, and urged Tsai to review the behavior of
her party’s lawmakers.
“Tsai has repeatedly pledged to rationally oversee the government’s performance,
and it is time to stop using violence. We hope Tsai will take the necessary
actions against party members who cause violence,” he said.
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