The pan-blue caucuses are divided again on a major issue: whether to allow President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to proceed with the first-ever state-of-the-nation address in the Legislative Yuan.
While the People First Party (PFP) has shown enthusiasm about the issue for the past two days, climaxing with party Chairman James Soong (
"The KMT caucus basically welcomes the president to deliver a state-of-the-nation address in the Legislative Yuan, but the address has to be constitutional and legal, and it has to take place after the legislative elections," KMT caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (
"The Constitution stipulates that the Legislative Yuan can invite the president to make a state-of-the-nation address every year, and that means the right and the decision to initiate such a report lies with the Legislative Yuan," he said.
"So it may be unconstitutional for President Chen to initiate such a request," he said.
Tseng also said that the caucus would request a constitutional interpretation on Chen's request.
"The existing laws do not stipulate how the president should proceed with the address or how the president should interact with lawmakers, and we should amend the laws to regulate how these things should proceed," Tseng said.
Tseng said that before the Legislative Yuan goes into recess at the beginning of November, the lawmakers have to question the premier and review the annual budget, and there was no time left for the president.
"So if the president wants to give his address, he has to wait until after the election," Tseng said.
Even Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), despite being scheduled to host an inter-party negotiation between the caucuses tomorrow to discuss the issue, rejected Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang's (蘇貞昌) request two days ago to meet and discuss the technical aspects of the address.
"It is unknown whether the Legislative Yuan will accept the president's request, and Su doesn't have to come now to talk about this. We can discuss the issue only after the Legislative Yuan invites the president to deliver the address," he said.
Contrary to the KMT's cool attitude, the PFP has even decided to have an incumbent legislator-at-large, Legislator Lee Tung-hao (
Soong said earlier this month that he was willing to become a legislator-at-large in order to debate with Chen on policies.
But the prerequisite for Soong's appearance in the Legislative Yuan would be that Chen must interact and be questioned by lawmakers after the address, the PFP said.
Although PFP shared a similar attitude with the KMT on the constitutionality and legality of the issue, PFP caucus whip Liu Weng-hsiung (
The Democratic Progressive Party caucus, meanwhile, defended the validity of the president's request.
"According to the Constitution, President Chen can take the initiative to request a state-of-the-nation address. Even if the pan-blue camp requests a constitutional interpretation of the request, it won't affect the delivery of the address," DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said.
"How the address should proceed can be decided simply by inter-party negotiations, and there is no need for an amendment to the laws," he said.
The DPP caucus also said that for the president to deliver the address, the Legislative Yuan only needs to arrange an extra sitting on one day, which won't affect the question-and-answer session with the premier and the review of the annual budget.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RSS