The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday decided against calling a third extra legislative session, while Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) brushed off an invitation to meet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
At a press conference to address the explosions in Greater Kaohsiung on Monday — 11 days after the disaster — Ma said that inter-party political infighting should end and that the minority parties should stop “bullying the majority and paralyzing legislative proceedings,” so the nation’s economic development can thrive.
Tsai yesterday said that the proposed meeting between herself and Ma as KMT chairman is not the most pressing issue right now and that nothing would be achieved if only form — as opposed to substance — is being underlined.
Rejecting Ma’s accusations of political bullying, Tsai reminded the president that the KMT is both the majority party in the Legislative Yuan and the nation’s ruling party.
“What it should do is to unassumingly communicate with the opposition and the public, rather than trying to ram bills through in extra legislative sessions before thorough discussion and coordination have been accomplished,” Tsai said.
Meanwhile, the KMT caucus said that it decided against calling another extra legislative session, which would have been held next week, amid a difference of opinion over the value of such a session.
Two extraordinary sessions have already been held, despite objections from the opposition parties. One tackled confirmation votes on Control Yuan nominations, while the KMT and Ma intended to use the other to review legislation covering an oversight mechanism for cross-strait agreements, the special draft bill on free economic pilot zones and the cross-strait service trade agreement.
Apart from the confirmation votes, none of those goals were achieved, derailed by the opposition’s use of obstruction as protest.
Acting KMT caucus whip Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) yesterday said that the KMT caucus would not motion for a third extra session. Fai is acting in the place of Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池), who resigned after 11 nominees for Control Yuan positions failed to be approved, a performance characterized as a fiasco and failure of the party caucus.
Different opinions abound within the KMT, with some legislators expressing exhaustion, while others urge the quick passage of the bills concerning economic development, Fai said, adding that the economic bills are to be at the top of the legislative agenda in the next plenary session, which is expected to begin in a month.
Before the announcement, new KMT deputy caucus whip Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) said that many believe now is bad timing, as the government and the opposition have serious disagreements.
“Many of us are against a third session, but we also understand Chairman Ma’s sense of urgency; he has been pretty anxious about the bills. But the current milieu, with the two parties’ hostility persisting and even deteriorating, just does not allow for it,” Liao said.
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
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