By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday proposed holding a national affairs conference and establishing an interparty special legislative committee to resolve the nation’s fiscal problems.
Skyrocketing government debt and a worsening pension crisis have placed national economic security at risk, Tsai said in a press release, adding: “It’s time for us to go back to rational policy discussion without being divided by party ideology, so we can face the problems together.”
Tsai proposed establishing a special legislative committee on pensions and financial reform and hoped that the collaboration would compel the administration to conduct a thorough review of the current system and present a comprehensive reform plan.
After that, a national affairs conference attended by politicians and representatives from all sectors of society would affirm the plan, as well as the direction and timetable of reform.
Such a problem-solving process would set an example and contribute to the maturity of Taiwan’s democracy, she said, adding that she would like to be part of the team.
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) responded positively to the proposal, saying the initiative was in line with the party’s position.
The DPP has had extensive discussions on the pension system in the past three weeks and has designated Lin Wan-i (林萬億), director of the DPP’s think tank, to present a complete set of policies.
Former Tainan County commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) said the proposal would allow President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to evade its responsibility, adding that the DPP should ask Ma to present his policy within three months.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus gave the proposal the cold shoulder, with caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) saying that the conference would be unnecessary.
Chao Shou-po (趙守博), a member of the KMT Central Standing Committee, presented a similar proposal in a committee meeting on Wednesday, but did not receive a positive response.