Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday declared that the Cabinet's decision to discontinue the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四) was now supported by a majority of the general public, saying that two controversial questions should be directed to the Council of Grand Justices for resolution.
Chang said yesterday at a press conference that the two questions were, "Whether the decision to halt the nuclear power plant is illegal and whether to impeach the premier. I will respect the decision of the Council of Grand Justices, because this is the legal procedure of Taiwan's democratic constitutional system, which can bring an end to the endless contention and vicious political fighting between the opposition party and the government," Chang said yesterday at his press conference.
The three major opposition parties yesterday united in the Legislative Yuan to pass an amendment to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Law (總統、副總統選舉罷免法) and a non-binding resolution to formally recommend the Control Yuan impeach the premier.
Chang immediately called a press conference to further defend the Cabinet's policy, saying that most people now approved of the decision to halt the construction of the power plant.
"According to the latest public poll which was made by the Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission," Chang said, "the majority of public opinion supports our decision. Only 34 percent of people support proceeding with the nuclear power plant, while 44 percent of people want to halt the plant."
"And 38 percent of that 34 percent of pro-nuclear people revealed in the polls that they would shift their attitude to support halting the nuclear power plant if the government offered an effective alternative source of electricity," Chang said.
He then said that there had been 22 past examples of the Executive Yuan not implementing budgets passed by the Legislative Yuan. "Those instances had not been regarded as violating the law," Chang said.
He repeatedly stressed that the Cabinet had the right to declare a halt to the nuclear power plant, and that the position now enjoyed majority support.
"If the Legislative Yuan still disagreed with the Cabinet's decision, the Executive Yuan could apply for an interpretation of the Constitution by the Council of Grand Justices," Chang said. "The same applies to the resolution recommending the Control Yuan impeach me," he added.
KMT spokesman Jason Hu (胡志強) said that Chang's comments did nothing to help solve the current dispute because the people do not understand how the government will solve the problem of energy demand.
Some opposition lawmakers had already applied for a constitutional interpretation by the Council of Grand Justices last month on the power plant issue, but they withdrew their case yesterday.
"We don't have to create an opportunity to help President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) get out of trouble which he created for himself," said New Party lawmaker Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國). "The recall action will be underway soon, and therefore, the constitutional interpretation is not necessary," Feng said.
Meanwhile, a close aide to the president yesterday told reporters that Chen would adopt a more low-key approach to policy announcements in the future to avoid being criticized for interfering with the Cabinet's policy-making.
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