The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee is willing to consider revising the party’s charter to automatically give the post of party chairman to the nation’s president if the KMT holds the presidency because this would allow the smooth integration of party and government policies, KMT Cultural and Communications Committee deputy head Yin Wei (殷瑋) said yesterday.
Yin’s comments followed reports by local media that soon after being re-elected as party chairman on Saturday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) — who ran unopposed — moved to amend the KMT’s charter to bind the party chairmanship to the office of president.
The move would mean that if the KMT wins the presidential election in 2016, Ma would have to step down as party chairman to make way for the new president.
Sources within the party said that proposals to amend the charter can only be made during the party’s national congress, and since there was still a long way to go before the next convention, it is unlikely that the matter will be decided any time soon.
Greater Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) said he had always supported the idea that under a KMT government, the president should double as the party chairman to better integrate the policies of the party with those of the central government.
Commenting on the high percentage of the party electorate — close to 90 percent — that voted for Ma in the chairmanship election, Hu said the party should be encouraged by the KMT still being united behind the president despite the tough political climate.
Hu said he supported the amendment to the charter, adding that it would bring about greater efficiency in the central government, as well as benefitting both the nation and the party.
However, the Greater Taichung mayor also cautioned that the party should not let the euphoria of the KMT election go to its head.
Ma’s biggest problem since being sworn into office in 2008 has been his inability to raise his approval ratings among the public, Hu said, adding that the party still has a long way to go to win popular support.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
EARTHQUAKE: Taipei and New Taipei City accused a construction company of ignoring the Circular MRT’s original design, causing sections to shift by up to 92cm The Taipei and New Taipei City governments yesterday said they would seek NT$1.93 billion (US$58.6 million) in compensation from the company responsible for building the Circular MRT Line, following damage sustained during an earthquake in April last year that had shuttered a section for months. BES Engineering Corp, a listed company under Core Pacific Group, was accused of ignoring the original design when constructing the MRT line, resulting in negative shear strength resistance and causing sections of the rail line between Jhonghe (中和) and Banciao (板橋) districts to shift by up to 92cm during the April 3 earthquake. The pot bearings on
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
RSS