The pan-blue caucuses are divided again on a major issue: whether to allow President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to proceed with the first-ever state-of-the-nation address in the Legislative Yuan.
While the People First Party (PFP) has shown enthusiasm about the issue for the past two days, climaxing with party Chairman James Soong (
"The KMT caucus basically welcomes the president to deliver a state-of-the-nation address in the Legislative Yuan, but the address has to be constitutional and legal, and it has to take place after the legislative elections," KMT caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (
"The Constitution stipulates that the Legislative Yuan can invite the president to make a state-of-the-nation address every year, and that means the right and the decision to initiate such a report lies with the Legislative Yuan," he said.
"So it may be unconstitutional for President Chen to initiate such a request," he said.
Tseng also said that the caucus would request a constitutional interpretation on Chen's request.
"The existing laws do not stipulate how the president should proceed with the address or how the president should interact with lawmakers, and we should amend the laws to regulate how these things should proceed," Tseng said.
Tseng said that before the Legislative Yuan goes into recess at the beginning of November, the lawmakers have to question the premier and review the annual budget, and there was no time left for the president.
"So if the president wants to give his address, he has to wait until after the election," Tseng said.
Even Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), despite being scheduled to host an inter-party negotiation between the caucuses tomorrow to discuss the issue, rejected Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang's (蘇貞昌) request two days ago to meet and discuss the technical aspects of the address.
"It is unknown whether the Legislative Yuan will accept the president's request, and Su doesn't have to come now to talk about this. We can discuss the issue only after the Legislative Yuan invites the president to deliver the address," he said.
Contrary to the KMT's cool attitude, the PFP has even decided to have an incumbent legislator-at-large, Legislator Lee Tung-hao (
Soong said earlier this month that he was willing to become a legislator-at-large in order to debate with Chen on policies.
But the prerequisite for Soong's appearance in the Legislative Yuan would be that Chen must interact and be questioned by lawmakers after the address, the PFP said.
Although PFP shared a similar attitude with the KMT on the constitutionality and legality of the issue, PFP caucus whip Liu Weng-hsiung (
The Democratic Progressive Party caucus, meanwhile, defended the validity of the president's request.
"According to the Constitution, President Chen can take the initiative to request a state-of-the-nation address. Even if the pan-blue camp requests a constitutional interpretation of the request, it won't affect the delivery of the address," DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said.
"How the address should proceed can be decided simply by inter-party negotiations, and there is no need for an amendment to the laws," he said.
The DPP caucus also said that for the president to deliver the address, the Legislative Yuan only needs to arrange an extra sitting on one day, which won't affect the question-and-answer session with the premier and the review of the annual budget.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS