Promoting a grand coalition government would not be easy, but Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told supporters at a campaign stop yesterday that she could make it happen if the public gave her their support and strength.
Having first mentioned the idea of a coalition government on Friday during the final televised policy debate hosted by the Central Election Commission, Tsai fielded questions on whether her government would adopt a strategy similar to the administration of former president Chen Sui-bian (陳水扁) in which “the premier does not necessarily have to be from the DPP” — a reference to former premier Tang Fei (唐飛).
After becoming president in 2000, Chen moved to pacify the pro-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) military by naming Tang, former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) minister of national defense and a member of the KMT, as his administration’s first premier.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Tang served in the post for only four months, resigning over a controversy regarding the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
However, Tsai said that a DPP coalition government would be different from Chen’s inclusion of Tang. According to Tsai, there would be a dialogue between the government and opposition parties, which could lead to cooperation in administrative and legislative matters.
A DPP government would not have a “winner takes all” mindset and would not use its possible majority in the legislature to suppress the minority, Tsai said, adding that she would respect the legislature and the opposition, and listen to the voice of the people.
However, the KMT and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) campaign team were quick to criticize Tsai’s remarks.
The Ma campaign team said Tsai’s coalition government would be a failure, just like Tang’s appointment, while KMT spokesperson Lai Su-ju (賴素如) added that during the eight years of the former DPP administration and the three years since Tsai became DPP chairperson, the issue of a grand coalition had never been mentioned.
“Bringing up the issue only six days before election day is political manipulation, pure and simple,” Lai said.
However, People First Party (PFP) spokesperson Wu Kun-yu (吳崑玉) said forming a coalition government was premised on none of the three major parties — KTM, DPP and PFP — having a majority in the legislature, adding that if PFP presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) were elected, he would form a coalition government.
However, Wu said that if Tsai were elected, the DPP and PFP would probably still not have a majority of legislative seats unless they managed to persuade some pan-blue legislators to align with them, so a coalition government could not be formed.
In response to the KMT’s criticism of her proposal, Tsai called on Ma and the KMT to not dismiss the idea of a grand coalition government that could unite the nation.
Additional reporting by Peng Hsien-chun
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS