The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus could explore launching efforts to impeach President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee tomorrow and will explain its decision today, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said yesterday.
Ker said the DPP Central Committee had already established a special panel to discuss impeaching Ma, with DPP Central Standing Committee member Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) as convener.
The panel had already discussed the possibility of impeaching Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, Ker said.
The DPP caucus on Friday discussed whether to target Ma and call for his impeachment, but the meeting saw both opposition to and support for the idea, Ker said.
Supporters of impeachment said that despite the legal difficulties involved in the motion, the party should give voice to public -discontent, Ker said, adding that impeachment, whose supporters mostly draw from factions identifying who follow Hsieh and former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), would “leave a mark.”
DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋), who supports the move, said elections and impeachment were opposite sides of a coin, adding that since the public elected Ma as president, they also have the right to impeach him.
Although the act of impeaching a president is still under a one-year limitation, public discontent toward the Ma administration is already showing, Lee said, adding that “the DPP caucus should appropriately reflect the will of the people and state their will.”
The restriction refers to limitations outlined in Article 70 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法).
However, other DPP members hold a more conservative outlook, with some legislators saying that raising the impeachment case at this time would only serve to unify the KMT and silence those within the KMT who are dissatisfied with Ma’s performance.
“It would be helping the KMT to divert the focus of the people from the ineptitude of the Ma --administration and let them pose a united front,” the opposing DPP legislators said, adding that the motion would also leave the public with the impression that the DPP “is a source of turmoil.”
Impeachment is a counterbalance and the DPP caucus is considering the viability of such a motion as well as keeping an eye on the general mood within society, Ker said.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS