an to condemn the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for treating them as "second-class" citizens, while the DPP government has requested that the legislature reconsider the amendments to the law governing the farmers' and fishermen's associations enacted in May. More than 10 lawmakers of the opposition Kuomintang showed up to stand behind the protesting farmers.
Organizers of the rally reiterated their gratitude to the Kuomintamg, the People First Party and Non-partisan Solidarity Union for their opposition to the Cabinet's request for reconsidering amendments to the said law.
"Farmers need associations; farmers are not second-class citizens," the protesters shouted their slogans. "No discrimination! No mudslinging! (Premier) Chang Chun-hsiung Step Down!"
They claimed that the request to reconsider the amendments was nothing more than "mudslinging" and political maneuvering ahead of the next presidential and legislative elections.
They stressed that these organizations are private groups and that the restriction to be done away with by the amendment is tougher than a similar restriction imposed on government officials, as government officials cannot be removed before they are found guilty in their last trial.
The amendments would abolish the three-term limit for secretaries general of the associations and guarantee that any association staff standing trial would not be removed from their posts until they are convicted in the final verdict in their case. Currently, indicted association staff members are discharged if they are convicted in a second trial.
On another front, some DPP lawmakers yesterday called for the public to support the Cabinet's request to reconsider the amendments regarding the farmers' and fishermen's associations.
If corrupt staff members of farmers' and fishermen's associations are allowed to stay in their posts until they are convicted in a final verdict, the banking institutes run by those associations would be ruined by them and taxpayers would be forced to carry the can, DPP lawmaker Wang Tu-fa told a press conference held at the Legislative Yuan.
Wang, accompanied by two other DPP lawmakers, Charles Chiang and Wu Ming-ming, said that 13 staff of the country's farmers' and fishermen's associations who are involved in criminal cases have been convicted, although final verdicts have not yet been delivered.
Noting that most have been charged with cutting corners by extending association loans to their cronies, Wang said the longer these people remain at their posts, the more irreversible the damage they will cause to the associations.
Wang claimed the ratio of bad loans of these associations' credit departments stood at 14.53 percent in 2000 when the DPP came to power. It was down to 7.6 percent as of last month, after the DPP administration used NT$50 billion (US$1.51 billion) to bail out unliquidated banking sections of these associations over the last seven years.
The government's efforts to help these groups regain their health will be undermined unless corrupt personnel are fired when they are found guilty at their second trials, Wang claimed.
According to the Constitution, the Cabinet (Executive Yuan) has the right to request that the legislature reconsider a passed bill if it deems the passed bill too difficult to execute.
The legislature is set to vote today on the Executive Yuan's request.
Also yesterday, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung said that the Executive Yuan stands on the side of farmers and fisherman in requesting that the opposition-controlled legislature reconsider amendments governing farmers' and fishermen's associations that it passed early last month.
