The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) alliance yesterday said that the alliance would lead the public to initiate a referendum, should President Chen Shui-bian's (
"If there is no formal response from President Chen Shui-bian by April 10 concerning the establishment of the special law, the KMT-PFP alliance will then initiate a petition to hold a referendum by May 20 [the day of the presidential inauguration] demanding the establishment of an investigation committee to look into the facts surrounding the whole shooting incident," KMT spokesman Alex Tsai (
During the attack on Chen on the eve of the election, bullets grazed Chen's stomach and hit Vice President Annette Lu's (
Chen defeated the joint ticket of KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien refused to concede defeat and, claiming voting irregularities, filed a lawsuit demanding a recount. Lien also raised questions about the shooting incident, claiming that the launch of the national security mechanism following the shooting had prevented a large number of military personnel from voting. The MND has since denied such claims.
"If the government refuses the alliance's call to assemble the `truth investigation commission,' it means the government is guilty," said Tsai.
Tsai added that in the meanwhile the alliance would also push for a special law to be passed and enacted in the Legislative Yuan to provide a legal basis for the establishment of the committee and empower it with the authority to carry out the necessary investigation.
To ensure the neutrality of the "truth investigation committee" transcends party lines and has no conflicts of interest, Tsai said the committee could be formed with Control Yuan President Frederick Chien (
The pan-blue camp is slated to stage a mass demonstration Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard to push for its call for its causes. Tsai yesterday said that the alliance would reconsider the option of canceling the demonstration if Chen responds the alliance's calls with goodwill.
"If the government however insists on blocking [the alliance's] proposals, then a higher level of resistance and demonstration would be the only way left to go," said Tsai.
In response to the pan-blue camp's call, Premier Yu Shyi-kun, noting that the creation of such a committee does not comply with the constitutional principle of division of power for the five-branch government system, criticized the alliance's desire to create an "unconstitutional" committee.
"Taiwan is a democratic country ruled by laws," said Yu. "The KMT-PFP alliance's demand of the government to assemble a multiparty `truth investigation committee' does not fit with the constitutional system, but does raise the concern of conflicting with the Constitution."
Democratic Progressive Party Deputy Secretary General Lee Chin-yung (
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition