Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) yesterday said the Cabinet, under his leadership, was resigning en masse, even though President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said earlier in the day that he would not accept the resignation at this time.
Mao, who was appointed premier in late 2014, following the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) crushing defeat in local government elections, walked out of a special Cabinet meeting yesterday without taking questions.
Mao’s resignation came after the KMT lost both the presidential and legislative elections on Saturday, a matter of course in Taiwan when a ruling party loses a major election.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Vice Premier Simon Chang (張善政) said that Mao is to take some time off, and Chang is to lead the Cabinet and other ministers until Ma decides whether to accept the Cabinet’s resignation.
Before Mao convened the special meeting, Ma went to Mao’s residence but did not find him there. Ma left after asking Mao’s wife to convey a message asking Mao to stay on.
The KMT offered to allow the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to form a Cabinet before its chairperson, president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), is sworn in on May 20, but the proposal appears to have been shot down.
In a post-election news conference late on Saturday, Tsai said that she would leave the issue of letting the party that holds the legislative majority form a Cabinet to constitutional procedure.
Taiwan’s Constitution does not allow for a Cabinet and a head of state from different parties.
Ma, whose second presidential term ends on May 20, yesterday said he is asking Tsai to reconsider her decision.
Meeting former deputy US secretary of state William Burns, Ma said it is necessary for the DPP to form a new Cabinet soon.
Meanwhile, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) yesterday said that Ma directed Presidential Office Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) to form a task force to prepare for the political transition.
The task force is to assign the transfer to a transition team designated by Tsai in accordance with related laws and regulations and based on the two previous power transitions in Taiwan, Chen said.
Tseng convened a meeting yesterday morning to begin preparations for the third transfer of power in Taiwan’s democratic history, Chen added.
The task force was formed to coordinate with the incoming administration to ensure a smooth transition of power in the four-month period between the election and the inauguration of the new president on May 20.
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
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
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
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique