Vice Speaker of the Legislative Yuan Yao Eng-chi (饒穎奇) was yesterday reported to be preparing to propose a motion at the Economic Development Advisory Conference (EDAC) to vote on whether a coalition government should be formed by the party which emerges from the legislative election as the majority party.
Such a motion would echo KMT Chairman Lien Chan's (
Yao, however, yesterday refused to confirm that he was preparing to move such a motion but said, "The time is not ripe yet." But KMT spokesman Justin Chou (
Chou also said that Lien had openly urged the DPP government to abide by the constitution, put an end to the current minority government, and implement the dual-head system of government, whereby the premier is nominated from the majority party or alliance.
Chou said that Chen should explain the conditions under which he would form a coalition government before the year-end elections so as not to trigger further political struggles.
Expressing disagreement, DPP legislative whip Tsai Huang-liang (
"If the KMT moves to discuss the proposal, it will be an obvious infringement of the president's right [to appoint the premier]," Tsai said.
Urging the opposition parties to respect the president's rights, Taiwan Solidarity Union spokesman Su Chin-chang (
"It's very clear that they [both parties] want to play the leading role in the economic conference," Su said yesterday.
Su said that the DPP is not likely to partner any other political parties to form a coalition Cabinet, "unless the DPP loses heavily in the year-end legislative elections."
He was also pessimistic about likely cooperation between the KMT and the PFP.
Su said that the plan appeared to be hampered by many difficulties arising from the two parties' local-level electoral cooperation. He said that this diminished the likelihood that the KMT and PFP would cooperate well at central government level.
Though PFP leader James Soong (宋楚瑜) had previously said, "the party would like to ally with any party to jointly establish a coalition government," the director of the party's policy department Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) yesterday attempted to soften the party's stance, saying it needed further discussion to decide whether it would throw its support behind the KMT's proposal.
On Wednesday, Soong's remarks immediately drew severe criticism from the New Party, which said that Soong was short-sightedly eyeing electoral benefits regardless of the wider opposition alliance's political vision.
Tsai yesterday said that he agreed with another proposal of Lien's -- to conduct inter-party negotiations after the economic conference has finished.
He said that such negotiations would help facilitate the legislation of all the economic proposals reached at the economic conference and accelerate their implementation.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)