Pro-unification opposition parties have teamed up with the aim of preventing President Chen Shui-bian (
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the People First Party (PFP) and independent legislators announced their intention to stop the president from advancing with the abolition of the NUC at a joint press conference held yesterday at the legislature.
KMT policy committee director Tseng Yung-chuan (
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) yesterday called on the opposition alliance not to engage in an "irrational" boycott that may promote conflict among the general public.
The KMT caucus said on Thursday it would propose a motion to censure the president during yesterday's procedural committee and put it to a vote at next Friday's meeting. But it failed to carry out its threat yesterday, citing the Legislature's regulations.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, however, said that the KMT caucus was asked to back away from its planned motion after meeting with Legislative Speaker Wang Jyn-ping (
Late yesterday, KMT legislators Ting Shou-chung (
"We started the signature drive for the impeachment proposal on Jan.4 after Chen's New Year Day's address in which he announced the tightening of cross-strait policies," Ting said.
Ting said he had already collected 43 signatures, and 12 more signatures would be enough to bring a motion in the Legislature.
Thirty of the signatories were KMT legislators, 11 were PFP legislators and the other two were independent legislators, he added.
Meanwhile, Wang left yesterday for Singapore on a four-day trip, the purpose of which he declined to reveal.
However, an anonymous legislative source said the purpose of the trip was to ask the Singaporean government to pass on a message to China regarding the controversy surrounding Chen's plan to abolish the NUC.
Wang's office dismissed the speculation, saying that it was a private trip.
Wang was accompanied by a group of KMT legislators and is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Monday.
In related developments, the Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Liu Te-shun (
Liu made the remarks in response to comments made by China's Taiwan Affairs Office yesterday, which reiterated its opposition to Chen's plan to abolish the NUC, branding the plan as sabotage of cross-strait relations.
"The `Anti-Secession' Law is the main culprit," Liu said, adding that the law deprives Taiwanese people of their choice to decide their own future by forcing the people on both side of the Strait to recognize unification as the only option for the future of cross-strait relations.
Liu said that if China doesn't want Taiwan to scrap the NUC, it should amend its "Anti-Secession" Law and allow space for the survival of the Republic of China.
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