While the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus tried to solicit the support of the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU) yesterday for the legislative speaker election, the NPSU said remained firmly behind incumbent Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) pleaded with the NPSU not to give its full support to Wang since the caucus was neither "blue" nor "green."
"After the election the DPP will promote cross-party negotiation and reconciliation, and if the NPSU gives all its support to the KMT, it may find itself sold off by the KMT afterwards," Ker said.
"So the NPSU does not need to stake all its chips in one throw, and it should consider Wang and Ker equally," Ker said.
He said the NPSU could play a pivotal role at a time when negotiation and reconciliation were called for. In response to Wang's claim that he has already secured many NPSU votes, Ker said admitted that the NPSU was inclined to support Wang, but he would do his best to secure its support in the limited time left.
"I am feeling calm and I am not beset with anxiety like Wang," Ker said.
He said that he wanted to be speaker in order to seek major changes in the legislature and help create an era for cross-party negotiation and political stability.
"Wang's running is a continuation of the old era and old figures, and he is running for his personal interests. But the Legislative Yuan has not changed in the past 55 years, and we need a new culture instead of continuous conflicts," Ker said.
There will be at least six lawmakers in the NPSU caucus and caucus whip Chen Chin-ting (陳進丁) said the group had reached a consensus to support Wang.
"The DPP just decided on its candidate recently, and by asking the NPSU not to support Wang, it created a difficult situation," he said.
Chen said the caucus would discuss whom to support for deputy speaker this evening.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS