Undeterred by the result of a no-confidence motion against Premier Sean Chen (陳冲), which failed to pass the 113-seat Legislative Yuan, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday separately proposed an idea to recall President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on May 20 next year, the day that is set to mark his first full year in office following his re-election in January.
The Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) stipulates that a proposal of recall should be proposed by no less than one-quarter of the total members of the legislature and agreed by no less than two-thirds and that a president or vice president who has not been in the position for one year may not be recalled.
As the no-confidence motion launched by the DPP and the TSU to topple Chen’s Cabinet failed yesterday, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that recall measures against Ma “have turned into a pressing issue.”
Separately, TSU Legislator Hsu Chun-hsin (許忠信) said that Ma should be recalled because he is the mastermind behind the problematic policies which have led to a slowdown in the nation’s economy.
“The result of the no-confidence motion shows the voice of Taiwanese people has been defeated by the ‘violence of the legislative majority’ of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Even though some KMT lawmakers also agreed this Cabinet is unfit to govern, they still cast a ‘no’ vote and acquiesced to Ma’s wishes. This is a betrayal of the will of the Taiwanese people,” TSU caucus whip Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) said.
She questioned Chen’s promise to boost the economy, saying that he has not sought to replace “the incompetent heads of the Cabinet agencies responsible for economic and labor policies.”
Chen has been invited to deliver an administrative report to the legislature on Friday. The TSU caucus said it is to continue blocking Chen from taking to the podium and will continue to do so as long as the Ma government refuses to replace Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘), Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) and Council of Labor Affairs Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄).
Asked about the opposition parties’ plans to try to unseat Ma, Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) — head of the KMT’s policy committee — said he hopes to see reconciliation between the ruling and opposition parties.
If the legislative wrangling stops, the government would be able to put its full strength behind economic recovery efforts, he said, urging opposition parties not to boycott Chen’s administrative report or to “oppose for the sake of opposing.”
Additional reporting by CNA
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
RSS