A new round of political turmoil is fomenting in the legislature following the Executive Yuan's announcement yesterday to scrap the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project.
Lawmakers from the KMT, People First Party and New Party yesterday unanimously petitioned the Control Yuan to impeach Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
While the KMT and New Party can still block passage of the 2001 budget in protest, the PFP yesterday started a signature campaign in preparation for a no-confidence vote against Chang's Cabinet.
Still, some KMT legislators are ready to resort to an old trick that was adopted by DPP politicians in the past -- to bar the premier's scheduled presentation to the legislature. They are also considering launching a drive to recall President Chen Shui-bian (
"By stopping the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project at will, despite the fact that it is already 33-percent complete, the Executive Yuan is turning a blind eye to the validity of a budget passed by the legislature," said Hong Yuh-chin (
Opposition politicians have argued that the Executive Yuan has no right to discontinue the plant's budget unilaterally -- even if it decides to scrap the plant -- because the legislature passed a budget for the project in 1994 and reconfirmed it in 1996.
"A reversal of the policy must be approved by the legislature. The Executive Yuan cannot reverse it unilaterally," New Party caucus convener Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.
Both Lai and Hong concurred that Chang's unilateral announcement indicates that "it's meaningless for the legislature to review the budget at all."
Reaction from KMT lawmakers to Chang's announcement was especially strong, as it had come immediately after a high-profile meeting between KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and the president, in which Chen promised to consider the KMT's proposal to keep the project.
Hong called the premier "two-faced" and "a complete cheat."
Hong warned of confrontation between the legislative and administrative branches as mutual trust disintegrates.
"Inter-party negotiations will be very difficult and the DPP government is fully responsible for the consequences," Hong said.
Members of the Generation-E Alliance (e
Chang is set to accept interpellation from lawmakers on Tuesday and make an oral presentation on Friday on the central government's budget for fiscal 2001.
"We will mobilize people to prevent a premier -- who pays no respect to the legislature, the people or the law -- from stepping into the Legislative Yuan," said KMT legislator and alliance chairman Chen Horng-chi (
Chen also said that the president deserves to be recalled for treating Lien in such a "mean manner" and disregarding the meeting's potentially beneficial impact on political stability.
Meanwhile, the 19-member PFP caucus' proposal to launch a no-confidence vote against Chang's Cabinet failed to gain steam yesterday.
Both the KMT and New Party said they believe the people are not ready for the political instability that would be triggered by such a vote.
According to the ROC Constitution, with the signatures of at least one-third of legislators, the legislature can propose a no-confidence vote against the premier. If the motion is approved by at least half the legislators, the premier must resign and at the same time may ask the president to dissolve the legislature.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
RSS