More than two weeks of heated discussions and speculation about which political party might win the legislative speakership ended with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator-at-large Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) elected as the new speaker on Thursday.
However, “how to recall the legislative speaker” became a hot search term that same day, while new debates arose the following day.
As neither the KMT with its 52 legislative seats, nor the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) with its 51 seats, won more than half of the 113 legislative seats in last month’s elections, both parties’ speaker candidates visited the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislative caucus, hoping to gain the support of its eight legislators.
However, the TPP on Wednesday morning announced it would field its own candidate — Legislator-at-large Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) — with the party’s eight votes all going to her, and that if a speaker was not decided in the first voting round, they would not vote in the second round.
The DPP saw the TPP’s decision as direct support for Han, while the KMT was of course glad to see the move and its caucus convener Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) praised the TPP for standing with it in opposition to the DPP, saying that the KMT and TPP might continue to cooperate, including on assigning members to committees and selecting committee conveners.
Unsurprisingly, the KMT secured the speaker and deputy speaker roles.
However, veteran Taiwanese independence advocate Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興) on Friday published an open letter, detailing how he passed messages between TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and DPP Chairman and president-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday evening, sparking more speculation and debate.
In his letter, Chen said that on the evening of Jan. 26, he received a phone call from Ko, who asked for helpt to relay messages to Lai about the possibility of the DPP supporting Huang in the first round of voting and the TPP supporting the DPP’s deputy speaker candidate in return. Although both sides were cordial and expressed goodwill, he knew the negotiations would fail as both parties refused to concede.
Chen’s letter sparked debates among the TPP and DPP, as Ko said that DPP members approached him first and that he only called back in response to Chen’s prior inquiry, while DPP spokesperson Justin Wu (吳崢) said the DPP did not propose the idea of supporting Huang as speaker and its former deputy speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) as the deputy speaker candidate. Ko yesterday said he might file a defamation lawsuit against Wu over allegedly proposing the murky speakership quid pro quo.
Moreover, it sparked speculation from pan-blue camp members of whether Ko wanted to coerce the DPP into cooperating with the TPP, and only yielded to letting the KMT win after its secret negotiations with the DPP failed, and if so, the KMT might need to reconsider trusting Ko and his party.
As details of the DPP-TPP negotiations remain unclear, the incident, as well as the failure of a KMT-TPP joint presidential ticket bid, Ko’s unproven claim that a broker offered him US$200 million to quit his presidential bid and other incidents, have shown his unreliability and opportunism, often making decisions at the last moment based on political machinations and leveraging for influence by threatening to shift alliances, rather than having principles.
As a new third party that could cast decisive votes on critical issues, the TPP could have a real impact if it stays true to its claims of serving the public interest and making decisions based on rationality and professional and scientific analysis, but if it continues to engage in double-dealing for personal or partisan gains and thinks it can outsmart everyone through manipulation, it is likely to be stuck once the KMT, DPP and the public repeatedly see through its tricks and no longer trust it.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
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