The May 20 presidential inauguration is apparently becoming the nation's next political battleground. While it is not surprising that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Interestingly, presidential spokesman James Huang's (
However, the actual issuance of such an injunction would definitely be inadvisable from the practical and political perspectives, and would have a weak legal basis.
According to the Constitution, the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election Recall Law (
In particular, the law's Article 106 provides that upon a final court verdict overturning the election result, the original election winners will be relieved of their duties as of the date of the verdict. The law's Article 107 states that such a subsequent verdict overturning election results does not have any impact on the original election winner's performance of duties after the inauguration and before this verdict. These articles indicate that the existing law specifically provides for situations in which election win
ners are inaugurated with lawsuits seeking to overturn their victory still pending in the court.
In view of the criteria for the courts' issuance of injunctions, the PFP is unlikely to prevail anyway. One important criterion is whether there is an urgent need to prevent major harm or injury through such an injunction. Frankly speaking, one can hardly think of any harm or injury that could come from Chen's inauguration, while one can think of many that would result from an injunction against his inauguration.
Such potential harm would not only weigh heavily against such an injunction's issuance, but would also provide evidence of PFP irresponsibility in seeking the injunction.
If Chen and Lu are prohibited from taking office on May 20, what will happen to this country? The social chaos and panic are easy to imagine.
Citing the example of South Korea, where the congressional speaker is serving as acting president before courts ruled on the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun, the PFP is speaking about having Legislative Yuan Speaker and KMT Vice Chairman Wang Jin-pyng (
Instead, the example of South Korea should serve as a warning for the PFP and the KMT. In last Thursday's Korean congressional elections, which were perceived by many as a referendum on the impeachment of Roh by the Grand National Party, the pro-Roh Uri Party captured a surprising legislative majority for the first time, suggesting that the majority of South Koreans disapproves of the chaos and restlessness sparked by the impeachment.
If the PFP and KMT continue this charade, ignoring the people's wish for peace and stability, they will pay a hefty price in future elections.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
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