Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday dismissed speculation that he can't control the party's legislative caucus, saying that he did not intend to lead like a dictator.
The KMT caucus on Tuesday decided to oppose President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) nomination of Hsieh Wen-ding (謝文定) to be state public prosecutor-general, dooming his appointment. Ma later expressed surprise at the caucus' decision to oppose the nomination rather than to hold an open vote on the issue.
Yesterday he rejected questions that cast doubt upon his leadership capabilities because he could not stop the caucus from opposing the nomination.
"The KMT caucus made a decision, but [some people] blamed the chairman for not giving orders. [Controlling the caucus] is a path toward dictatorship, and I will never walk that path," Ma said.
He urged the government not to shift the blame for the failure of Hsieh's nomination onto the KMT.
"The KMT can't decide everything. We hope that different voices can be heard in the caucus during the decision-making process," he said.
While stressing his unwillingness to issue orders to the caucus, Ma called on the caucus to make decisions with a measure of responsibility, taking into account public opinion and using reason.
KMT legislators Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) and Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) denied the caucus had "kidnapped" Ma by making a decision behind his back.
"Most of the legislators opposed the nomination of Hsieh during the caucus meeting, that's why the caucus made its decision," Wu said yesterday morning before attending the KMT's Central Standing Committee meeting.
Wu said the party had failed to give legislators more chances to express their opinions before the caucus meeting. He said the party leadership should communicate better with legislators to prevent similar incidents.
Huang did not agree that vote had been the result of miscommunication between the party and the caucus, but acknowledged that the caucus meeting had been held in a hurry.
But other KMT lawmakers feel that Ma had been "kidnapped" by those with hardline positions on political confrontation.
"Some people who recently joined the KMT from the People First Party [PFP] and the New Party have hijacked Ma. They oppose everything for the sake of opposition," Legislator Hsu Chung-hsiung (
Hsu said he would appeal to fellow lawmakers who can mediate to form a caucus sub-group to deal with their more hardline colleagues.
Hsu said hawkish legislators are using Ma to further their own interests, which would damage the party's image.
Another KMT lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he thought Ma was aware of the caucus' decision ahead of the vote.
Huang said she was very disappointed with the caucus' decision on the veto.
Meanwhile, as the KMT Central Standing Committee was taking place, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Tsai Chi-fang (
"We are afraid that Grandpa Lien will forget about the Republic of China [ROC] when he goes to China, and so we are asking him to take the national flags there and echo Ma's 1992 consensus," Tsai said in front of KMT headquarters.
Lien is leading a delegation of KMT lawmakers, academics and business executives to a two-day economic forum with the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing tomorrow. He is scheduled to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (
The three DPP legislators urged Lien to clarify the so-called "1992 consensus" that both sides of the Taiwan Strait can interpret the meaning of "one China" separately, and stressed the existence of the ROC.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS