Opposition party lawmakers yesterday threatened to impeach President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made his announcement yesterday afternoon. Minutes after the announcement, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"He [the president] told me that he would use the words `to cease' instead of `to abolish,'" he said.
PHOTO: CNA
Wang did not say whether he would endorse his fellow pan-blue lawmakers' proposal to impeach the president.
"The president's announcement seems to be a sign that he is leading this country one step closer to independence," KMT Policy Committee director Tseng Yung-chuan (
Tseng said that he would support the proposal to impeach the president, and would also encourage his fellow KMT lawmakers to do so.
An impeachment signature drive was launched by KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (
An impeachment proposal would have to be approved by two-thirds of the lawmakers in the 225-seat Legislative Yuan to move past the first reading.
"Now that the idea to impeach the president has become a proposal, we will attempt to submit it to the legislature for initial review as soon as next Tuesday," Tseng said.
People First Party (PFP) caucus whip Lu Hsueh-chang (
"We need to teach him [the president] a lesson and let him know that we are not happy about this," Lu said.
Meanwhile, the whips of the legislative caucuses of the KMT, the PFP and the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union said they would demand that the premier brief the legislature on the decision-making process behind the policy.
Also, street protests might be "unavoidable" to keep Chen from scrapping the National Unification Council (NUC) and its guidelines, a PFP spokesman said.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma said semantics was not the key issue and that "what the public is concerned about are the issues that relate to their daily lives."
At a time when the nation is plagued with so many economic problems, Ma said, the president had stoked a controversial political issue that would not benefit the public.
"The president has the wrong priorities in setting his political agenda," Ma said.
"The president's proposal to do away with the NUC has rocked Taiwan-US and cross-strait relations," he said.
"The public hopes that the president will refocus on what he should do," he said, adding that if "he insists on going down this controversial path, history will record it."
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS