If President Chen Shui-bian (
Hsu, currently a member of a high-profile Taiwan delegation to the southern Chinese port city of Xiamen to attend a world Hakka amity meeting, criticized Chen as the "source of Taiwan's political unrest today."
He pointed out what he called Chen's "spiteful" attitude toward the constitutional system and disrespect for the legislative majority, adding "the president could be recalled 10 times" if Taiwanese genuinely valued the constitutional system.
Hsu, who withdrew from the DPP last year to run for the presidency as an independent and ended up securing about two percent of the vote, said Chen is unlikely to be dismissed simply because of his disrespect for the constitutional system, because people still don't properly understand constitutional politics, he said.
He noted that even if the recall vote motion were passed in the Legislative Yuan, it would also need to be passed by a referendum of at least half of the island's voters.
Speaking of the chance that Chen could be unseated should the domestic economy stay in the doldrums and the bourse continue to nose-dive, for example to about 4,000 points, Hsu said, "If that indeed happens, the people will definitely demand a change in the government, prompting them to say no to Chen in a referendum," Hsu said.
Hsu said Chen is accused of contempt for the constitutional system because he follows his own will when setting about to shape the government. According to the Constitution, Hsu noted, the president is not the head of the administration. That role falls, rather, on the premier.
According to the Constitution, the Executive Yuan is charged with executing the resolutions of the Legislative Yuan.
Against this background, Hsu said the majority party in the Legislative Yuan, which currently is the KMT, should be the ruling party rather than the DPP, the president's party, which holds only 67 seats in the 220-member legislature.
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