As expected, the third recall motion against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday failed to pass on a legislative vote, garnering only 118 affirmative ballots.
Immediately after the result, the People First Party (PFP) caucus announced it would initiate a no-confidence proposal against Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and the Cabinet.
The pan-blue-initiated motion only garnered 118 affirmative votes, one negative vote and 12 invalid votes out of the 131 legislators present, falling short of the threshold -- two thirds of the total 218 legislative seats -- for the motion to pass.
All pan-blue legislators cast affirmative votes except for PFP Legislator Ku Chung-lien (顧崇廉), who was hospitalized and unable to attend. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Chang-tsair (張昌財), who was absent for the second recall motion, attended the session and voted in favor of the motion.
Six of the Non partisan Solidarity Union's eight members also supported the motion, while two members, Chen Chin-ting (陳進丁) and Yang Chung-tse (楊宗哲), did not attend yesterday's session.
All 12 Taiwan Solidarity Union legislators cast invalid votes. Each of them placed a sticker bearing the slogan "respect the judiciary and establish a system" on their ballots.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators did not attend the vote yesterday, in line with what they had done in the two previous recall motions.
Unlike the two previous recall motions, during which pan-blue legislators staged noisy demonstrations on the legislative floor, only one demonstration was staged yesterday, after the vote.
Following the recall vote, PFP spokesman Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) told a press conference that the PFP caucus would propose a measure to topple the Cabinet because the Cabinet cannot function well, given that it has been defending the president, who was "embroiled in corruption scandals."
Lee also criticized the KMT caucus for spending too much time in dealing with KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) mayoral special allowance case and "forgetting the recall motion." He urged the KMT caucus to join the PFP in pushing a no-confidence proposal.
Although KMT caucus whip Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) criticized the DPP's boycott of yesterday's vote as "shameful," he said the caucus would focus on campaigning for next month's mayoral elections for the moment instead of backing the PFP's no-confidence vote.
But the caucus would consider a fourth recall motion or a proposal to topple the Cabinet after the elections, Tsai added.
Calling the third recall motion a "joke," DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) told the press following the vote that the KMT caucus should have withdrawn the motion, as the public has lost interest in it.
Ker said relations between the pan-green and pan-blue camps had worsened since Ma became KMT chairman.
Ma may lose his chance to win the presidential election in 2008 if the KMT decides to launch a fourth recall motion, Ker added.
President Chen yesterday described the campaign launched by the opposition to recall him as part of the country's democracy.
Saying that freedom and the rule of law were two major elements of democracy, Chen added that the public could disagree with the president and try to recall him but that any such action must not overstep the rule of law and the Constitution.
Chen made the remarks while meeting former American Institute in Taiwan chairwoman Therese Shaheen, who is in Taiwan on a private trip.
Additional reporting by CNA
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 —
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
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS