The legislature paved the way yesterday for a joint presidential bid by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
The Legislative Yuan approved revisions to the President and Vice President Election and Recall Law (
Lien and Soong got the legal support they were seeking after the pan-blue-controlled legislature vetoed a proposal by Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) that stated a presidential ticket could only be formed within one political party.
The legislature overwhelmingly rejected Chen's proposal, with 177 lawmakers voting against it and 24 in favor.
The TSU ascribed the setback to its being abandoned by its pan-green ally, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
"We blame the DPP for its action in collusion with the pan-blue parties," TSU whip Liao Pen-yen (
DPP legislative leader Chen Chi-mai (
"The DPP caucus did not order its members to vote against the TSU proposal," Chen said.
"Our mission was to safeguard passage of the amended law following compromises achieved by the Cabinet and the pan-blue parties in multiparty negotiations," he said.
Chen said, thanks to the decision, the DPP successfully prevented pan-blue lawmakers from adding an article about absentee voting in the revised law, while the DPP government succeeded in tightening rules for political donations to presidential candidates.
The legislature rejected another TSU proposal that only Taiwan-born nationals should be eligible for registering as presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Presented by Liao, the article stated that only citizens born in Taiwan and the offshore islands of Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu should enjoy the right to register as presidential and vice presidential candidates.
The rule would have excluded Lien, Soong and even Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) from running for president. Lien and Soong were born in China and Ma was born in Hong Kong.
Many nations, including the US, place similar restrictions on their immigrants, TSU Legislator Chen Chien-ming said on Wednesday.
"The limited citizenship of the newly elected California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was one such case," Chen said.
The Austria-born action-movie hero is banned from pursuing the US presidency, despite his having US citizenship, because he was not born in the US.
Legislators also dismissed a TSU motion seeking to deprive citizens whose outstanding income-tax debts exceed one third of their four-year presidential salary.
The motion was seen as targeting Soong, who has faced allegations of tax evasion since the disclosure of the Chung Hsing Bills scandal in 1999.
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