Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and his entire Cabinet resigned yesterday in the wake of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) crushing defeat in Saturday’s nine-in-one elections, results that were widely seen as a vote of no confidence against the government.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has yet to name Jiang’s replacement, so the 81-member Cabinet will remain in a caretaker role until a new premier is sworn in.
Ma also serves as KMT chairman and many speculate that he will step down from that role to take responsibility for the electoral outcome when the party’s Central Standing Committee meets tomorrow.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Speaking at a meeting after tendering his resignation, Jiang urged Cabinet members to stand firm at their posts and uphold their duties during the caretaker period to ensure that the nation’s operation continues smoothly.
He said that any major or controversial policies should be left for the new Cabinet, adding that Saturday’s polls demonstrated that many people are not satisfied with the direction the government is taking.
The most hotly contested races in the elections were those of the five special municipalities — Taipei, New Taipei City, Greater Tainan, Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung, as well as Taoyuan County, which is to be upgraded to a special municipality on Dec. 25.
While the KMT managed to maintain its hold on New Taipei City, it lost Taipei to independent candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), and surrendered Taichung and Taoyuan to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which retained Kaohsiung and Tainan.
The DPP took 47.5 percent of all votes cast across the nation, compared with the KMT’s 40.7.
“In addition to respecting the opinions expressed by the people through their votes, we should closely examine why we could not win support from more voters,” Jiang said.
Despite the solemn occasion, the premier smiled and appeared relaxed while he took group photographs with his Cabinet as a parting memento.
Due to the en masse resignation, several committees in the Legislative Yuan adjourned early yesterday because a lot of Cabinet ministers were absent from the committee meetings.
Meanwhile, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who on Sunday resigned as one of the KMT’s vice chairmen, yesterday refused to comment on rumors that he could be selected as the next premier.
He simply said that he would support Ma’s choice for the post, adding that he has no information on potential candidates, nor had he discussed the matter with the president.
Commenting on the issue, former DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that Jiang’s resignation was not the appropriate response to the public’s dissatisfaction and anger, as these are directed at Ma.
“That the premier of the nation has come to shoulder responsibility for the KMT’s electoral loss exemplifies the absurdity of Taiwan’s constitutional system,” Su said.
Su called for fundamental reforms to the Constitution, which he said grants too much power to the president. He also urged a lowering of what he called an unattainable legal threshold for recall acts against the president or no-confidence votes against the Cabinet, saying that this makes the government unaccountable to the public.
The governmental system does not have the mechanisms to respond effectively to public opinion, leading to a lack of trust between the citizenry and the administration that in turn has prompted a democratic crisis in the nation, he said.
“The huge flaws in our constitutional system have reached the point where a thorough re-evaluation of the system must take place,” Su said, adding that constitutional reform is required to establish accountable governance.
The former premier said he presented seven proposals on constitutional reform earlier this year to address societal concerns and urged the public to recognize the urgency of the issue.
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber and AFP
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft