DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday said that a demonstration of farmers and fishermen scheduled for Nov. 23 is actually a KMT and PFP conspiracy to boycott financial reforms.
"We have noticed that the KMT mobilized all its members in the farmers' and fishermen's associations to carry rotten food such as eggs and fish at the demonstration," Chang said yesterday at DPP headquarters.
Both KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Chang fought back yesterday, saying the opposition boycott will not only undermine the government's efforts to clean up the associations' non-performing loan problems, but may also cause the collapse of the nation's financial system.
"Once the government accomplishes the reorganization of farmers' and fishermen's associations, the Cabinet will keep its promise to provide NT$3.5 billion per year to help revive the system starting next year," Chang said.
Chang stressed that the Legislative Yuan had reached a consensus on June 14 on the need for a fundamental reform of the financial system, adding that the Cabinet should make rebuilding these troubled institutions a priority.
"The Cabinet is now executing the Legislative Yuan's resolution, which is also endorsed by those opposition parties," Chang said. "I have no idea why opposition leaders have now planned and mobilized such a large-scale demonstration to block the policy."
The credit departments of farmers' and fishermen's associations were established in 1960s and their credit cooperative departments were intended to improve the country's agricultural development.
However, over the past few years, complaints from academics and the DPP have grown about the associations serving as a source of "black gold" politics.
The DPP went as far as to say the associations virtually serve as a KMT mobilization mechanism during election campaigns and that the associations are under the control of local political factions and criminal organizations.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has declared on several occasions since taking power in May 2000 that he would reform the associations with an aim to clear up the overdue-loan problem.
DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui (
"Actually these farmers' and fishermen's associations have already lost their function because they no longer post profits," Lin said. "Opposition parties' criticisms are obviously for political purposes."
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS