A meeting yesterday between Vice Premier Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) and the People First Party (PFP) caucus over an upcoming infrastructure budget review raised speculation over the party’s role in a no-confidence vote against the Cabinet.
Lin visited PFP lawmakers to negotiate over the review of proposed budgets for the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, as the party had complained about insufficient communication with the Cabinet.
The timing of the meeting was sensitive, as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was allegedly planning a no-confidence vote against Premier Lin Chuan (林全) following a nationwide blackout on Tuesday last week.
The PFP is a potential KMT ally, as the 35-seat KMT caucus must seek support from three more lawmakers to meet the no-confidence vote requirement.
“Although we are a small party, we can sometimes exercise great influence. I think you understand what I am referring to, Mr Vice Premier,” PFP caucus chief executive Chow Chen Hsiu-hsia (周陳秀霞) told Lin Hsi-yao ahead of the closed-door meeting.
However, Lin Hsi-yao and the caucus denied that the meeting was about the speculated no-confidence motion.
Lin Hsi-yao said that the meeting — which was scheduled for last week, but was postponed to yesterday due to the power outage — was about the review of infrastructure budgets.
Lin Hsi-yao said the Cabinet’s communication with lawmakers about the program was admittedly inadequate, so he met with PFP lawmakers face-to-face.
The no-confidence motion was just speculation, PFP caucus convener Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said, adding that the KMT had not approached the PFP over the issue.
Lin Chuan’s presentation yesterday at the Legislative Yuan about the power outage should decide whether a no-confidence vote would be launched, Lee said.
“There is no ground for a no-confidence vote if the public appreciates [Lin Chuan’s report], but if it is unacceptable and unorganized, there will be further issues,” Lee said.
The PFP earlier had complained that the Executive Yuan ignored the party’s requests for information relating to the infrastructure budgets between legislative sessions and was slow in answering their questions, Lee added.
Meanwhile, Lin Chuan said the Cabinet respected lawmakers’ rights to launch a no-confidence vote, but added: “The PFP has no intention to endorse a no-confidence motion.”
The meeting was planned before the speculation over such a vote to discuss topics raised by PFP lawmakers, Lin Chuan said.
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
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS