President Ma Ying-jeou has urged the legislature to pass a bill on free economic pilot zones. The president said Wednesday that he hopes that opposition lawmakers can work with the ruling party at an upcoming special legislative session instead of boycotting the review process again.
“If the opposition lawmakers have problems with the special draft bill on the free economic pilot zones proposed by the National Development Council, they are welcome to propose their ideas and submit their draft to be reviewed at the special session," said Ma. "I think it is very important for us to resolve all the issues through peaceful dialogue and democratic procedures instead of violence.”
President Ma said the pilot project is crucial to Taiwan’s future and Taiwan’s bid to participate in regional trade bodies. He said that if Taiwan does not embrace free trade, it is the people who will suffer from the consequences. Ma also said he hopes the legislature will make progress towards setting up a mechanism that would supervise all cross-strait agreements.