Blue camp shows its hypocrisy - TW

[dArKeR]

Thursday, Mar 04, 2004,Page 8

Using their dominance in the legislature, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) on Tuesday forced the legislature's Procedure Committee to pass a draft amendment to Article 17 of the Referendum Law (???). The draft would shift the power to approve a defensive referendum from the president to the Legislative Yuan.

To protest the KMT and PFP legislators' attempt to expand the legislature's power, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) walked out of the committee meeting. Presidential Office officials said the draft would turn the "bird cage"referendum law into an "iron cage" law.

Proposed by KMT Legislator Kao Yu-jen (???), the amendment specifies that an emergency decree must be issued and approved by the Legislative Yuan before a defensive referendum can be held. The president would have to issue an emergency decree before holding a defensive referendum and the decree would have to be approved by the legislature within 10 days of its being issued.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/03/04/2003101101