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Legislature to vote
on new pact item-by-item: speaker
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporter
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (¤ýª÷¥) yesterday said that the legislature
would put each item in the cross-strait service trade agreement to a separate
vote rather than vote on the pact as a whole.
Wang was responding to the Mainland Affairs Council¡¦s statement given to
lawmakers on Tuesday that told them the legislature can either ratify or
abrogate the agreement, but that it cannot alter any of its provisions.
That statement sharply contrasted remarks made by Mainland Affairs Council
Minister Wang Yu-chi (¤ý§µa), who said the government would ¡§respect¡¨ the
legislature¡¦s decision.
Contacted for a comment, council spokesperson Wu Mei-hung (§d¬ü¬õ) yesterday said
that the statement was simply aimed at explaining to lawmakers ¡§how agreements
of a similar nature were dealt with by the legislature in the past.¡¨
¡§We will still respect whatever decision the legislature makes on the
agreement,¡¨ she said.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU)
have demanded that the agreement only take effect after the legislature ratifies
it in such a way that each of its 24 articles and sector-specific commitments
are voted on separately.
At a meeting to resolve the legislative deadlock on Tuesday, the Executive Yuan
and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus agreed to the DPP and TSU¡¦s
demand in exchange for the review of a number of bills before the end of the
extra session today.
However, in its statement, the council said it would not mandate the Straits
Exchange Foundation to notify China of the effective date of the agreement until
the legislature finishes its review, despite the fact legislative approval is
not required.
Given the lack of legislative rules governing the procedure under which
cross-strait agreements are reviewed, the legislature should follow precedent
whereby similar agreements were voted on as a whole, the statement said, citing
the Protocol of Accession to the WTO, the four free-trade agreements signed with
diplomatic allies, the Economic Cooperative Framework Agreement (ECFA) and the
Cross-strait Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights.
Lawmakers were not convinced by the council¡¦s argument.
DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (¼ï©s¦w) said the council was in no position to dictate
how the legislature should review the agreement.
¡§It¡¦s absurd that Wang Yu-chi came up with the statement. Did he think that he
has the authority to exercise the right of legal interpretation?¡¨ Pan asked.
Meanwhile, Wu said yesterday if the legislature rejects any of the provisions in
the service trade agreement it would in effect be abrogating the entire
agreement.
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