The KMT began a push to recall President Chen Shui-bian (
The party's legislative caucus approved a proposal by Legislator Ting Shou-chung (
It did not, however, get the immediate backing of the People First Party (PFP), which prefers to initiate a motion of no confidence against the premier in the legislature.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The KMT decision came in the wake of a meeting between the caucus representatives of the three opposition parties in an attempt to form an alliance and coordinate their attack on the government.
The meeting reached a consensus on several smaller matters such as changing the agenda of today's legislative session from interpellation of the premier to a review session on the government budget, breaking off communications with the legislative caucus of the DPP and making Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
The meeting was attended by PFP Legislator Diane Lee (
A statement, which was read by Tseng after the meeting, said that Chang had ridiculed the authority of the legislature by abruptly declaring a halt to the construction of the power plant, without consulting lawmakers.
In accordance with another agreement, Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) did not attend a meeting with the heads of the five branches of government held by the president last night.
At today's legislative session, as well as discussing the review of the 2001 budget, lawmakers are also expected to propose a number of measures aimed at increasing the legislature's authority over the executive branch, including the Law Governing Legislators' Exercise of Power, amendments to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Law (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and the new Budget Law.
The three parties' agreement on less important measures did not help them resolve the central issue preventing concerted action against the Chen-Chang administration, the question of recalling the president or proposing a vote of no confidence in the premier.
The KMT is loath to support a no-confidence motion because if it passes, the president is likely to use his constitutional power to dissolve the legislature and call fresh elections -- in which the KMT is likely to do poorly, to the benefit of the PFP.
In proposing the recall of the president yesterday, Ting said that the re-election of legislators wouldn't help end the current political fiasco, adding that recalling the president was the only solution, otherwise a new legislature would still have to face a dominant president.
The PFP's Lee, on the other hand, said to recall the president would create more social disruption and spoke strongly in favor of the no-confidence vote.
* Vote of no confidence:
- Requires a motion signed by one-third of Legislative Yuan members, and passage needs support from a simple majority.
- If the no-confidence vote passes, the president must nominate a new premier, who then forms a new cabinet, but the president can also dissolve the lawmaking body and call elections.
* Recall of a president:
- Requires a motion from one-fourth of legislators and needs support from two-thirds for passage.
- If the dismissal is approved by lawmakers, a popular referendum is held.
- If over half of the voters approve the dismissal, new elections are held.
Source: Reuters
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary