Speaker says coalition talks have to include personnel

Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday that personnel appointments besides those for the Cabinet would likely be discussed in party-to-party negotiations concerning the formation of a coalition government after the year-end legislative elections.

Wang confirmed that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) recently discussed the issue with him, with Chen saying the scope of his proposed coalition government would be wider than that of a coalition Cabinet.

Wang said the move is inevitable in light of the fact that personnel appointments in the other four branches now require the legislature's approval -- a power trans-ferred to the legislature from the National Assembly last May.

"If no negotiation is held beforehand, these appointments will probably encounter problems in obtaining the legislature's approval," Wang said.

Wang made the comments in response to Chen's latest elaboration on his proposal to form a coalition government after the elections, in which Chen said that the coalition would definitely be based on party-to-party negotiations and that it would not be limited to the Cabinet.

Since Chen made the offer in his inaugural anniversary address on May 18, what has concerned opposition parties the most has been whether the DPP intends to negotiate with them to form a coalition, or if it merely wants to ally with individual lawmakers.

Opposition lawmakers yesterday expressed their approval for Chen's commitment to negotiate with opposition parties, but urged Chen to be true to his word.

KMT legislative caucus whip Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金) said that the KMT has always insisted that a coalition government be based on party-to-party negotiations, and that recent developments validate the fact that their position has been right all along.

Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧), chief executive of the People First Party's legislative caucus, said Chen's capricious personality makes it difficult for people to believe what he says, and that he will have to take concrete action to make good on his promise.

"His concept of a coalition government has changed again and again," Shen said.

DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) admitted that the party has not yet reached an internal consensus on how the coalition government should be formed.

Wu, however, said he believes policies, rather than personnel arrangements, should be the key issue of discussion in party-to-party negotiations. "Personnel appointments fall under the president's powers and should therefore be decided by the president himself," he said.