Hundreds of academics yesterday called on Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) to step down for his poor performance as head of the Cabinet and for violating the Constitution.
The academics issued a joint appeal titled “The shamelessness of intellectuals is a national disgrace,” in which they listed the “four mistakes” they said Jiang has committed.
They refused to refer to him as him as the premier in the appeal, calling him “Mr Jiang Yi-huah” because he is “no longer qualified for the title,” they told a press conference in Taipei.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Jiang had neither tried to stop the illegal wiretaps in a “political plot” against President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) rivals — Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) — nor advised Ma against waging an internal battle within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the academics said.
They also accused him of speaking in contempt of the legislature — a serious breach of the constitutional spirit of the separation of powers, the statement said, adding that the premier has refused to apologize to the legislature over the comment, leading to the current stalemate between the executive and legislative branches of government.
“While the no-confidence motion is unlikely to pass, it is important to hold responsible individuals accountable for the political strife in September because responsible politics is what democracy is all about,” Nanhua University assistant professor Steve Wang (王思為) told the press conference.
Aside from the news conference organized by Taiwan Forever Association (台灣永社), in which they issued the appeal, the academics also held a separate press conference simultaneously yesterday morning.
Jiang’s claim that a failed no-confidence motion would represent public confidence in the Cabinet was “shameless,” Chung Hua University associate professor Tseng Chien-yuan (曾建元) said at the second event.
Tseng also rebutted a common criticism of the DPP’s proposal, saying that a no-confidence motion would be a responsible countermeasure with the least cost against the executive branch’s unilateral and authoritative policy as well as a good solution to break a political gridlock.
The motion has two implications for the Ma administration, National Dong Hwa University professor Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) said.
“First, it sends a warning to Ma and tells him that he is not an emperor and he cannot do whatever he wants. Second, it is a warning to Jiang that he cannot expect to climb up the political ladder with the way he governs now,” Shih said.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but