Government officials and DPP lawmakers yesterday dismissed speculation that the ruling party is secretly launching the "cross-party alliance for national stabilization," despite signs that suggest otherwise.
Tsai Huang-liang (
The "cross-party alliance for national stabilization" was initiated by President Chen during the run-up to last year's legislative elections.
The proposed alliance would consist of a group of 120 lawmakers that would support the government's policy initiatives and follow four objectives set down by the president.
According to Chen, the four objectives are: switching to a single-member district, two-vote electoral system; opposing "one country, two systems"; implementing the 322 points of agreement reached at the Economic Development Advisory Conference; and implementing national social-welfare policies.
However the alliance has not come into being due to opposition from the KMT and PFP.
Speculation is mounting that the DPP has been making efforts to lure lawmakers across party lines in a bid to initiate the proposed alliance.
On Feb. 1, PFP lawmaker Chiu Chuang-liang (邱創良) took his party by surprise when he announced he was quitting the party on the day of the legislative speaker and vice speaker elections.
He also announced he would vote for the DPP's candidate for the vice speakership, Hong Chi-chang (
Chiu claimed that he was disappointed with the PFP's discrimination against Taiwanese party members, despite its claim of embracing ethnic unity.
Hong lost the race with 106 votes compared with 115 for the KMT's Chiang Ping-kung (
The second round was necessary because neither candidate managed to win an outright majority in the first vote.
On Feb. 22, KMT lawmaker Yang Jen-fu (楊仁福) announced he was withdrawing from KMT legislative operations after his request to join the legislature's economics and energy committee was denied.
He also accused KMT legislative whip Lin Yi-shih (
Eight-term KMT lawmaker Hung Chao-nan (
The position became vacant after Hong Yuh-chin (
Hung, who has served as a deputy executive director of the committee for many years, has expressed a keen interest in taking over as the executive director.
Instead of appointing Hung to succeed Hong, however, the party offered the position to Tseng Yung-chuan (
Independent lawmaker Kao Meng-ting (
But Yao Chia-wen (
"But it doesn't necessarily mean that the alliance will not be formed in the future if the DPP enjoys a pleasant and steady cooperative relationship with other legislative caucuses on certain issues," he said.
Tsai, a former chief executive of the DPP legislative caucus and a member of the party's Justice Alliance (正義連線) faction founded by the president, said that the DPP caucus is indeed offering certain incentives to lure lawmakers across party lines to either join the party caucus or participate in party operations.
"Since we don't have many resources available, the only thing we can offer is that they'll get priority nomination should they join the DPP caucus," Tsai said.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man