Political heavyweights from the pan-blue camp yesterday called on Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to be open to the idea of amending the Constitution.
"We are willing to consider the necessity of constitutional amendments if restoring the legislature's right of consent to the appointment of a premier is one of the issues," People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) said after a one-hour meeting with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
Wang has responded positively to the idea of create a parliamentary system.
PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Wang visited Soong to discuss some long-stalled bills and other legislative business, including the arms procurement budget and the president's nominations for the Control Yuan and for the state public prosecutor-general.
Last week KMT Legislator Hsu Shu-po (許舒博) proposed an amendment to increase the number of legislative seats from 113 to 164 and change the electoral system from single-member districts to multiple-member districts.
Hsu's amendment also suggests that a parliamentary system be adopted.
Ma had asked KMT members not to officially bring up a constitutional amendment at the legislature.
Wang spoke for Hsu, saying that increasing the number of legislative seats was not the point of Hsu's amendment.
"The point is to restore the legislature's right of consent to the president's appointment of a premier and to demand the president promulgate laws and issue ordinances that have been counter-signed by the premier," Wang said.
Responding to Ma's request that KMT members stop talking about constitutional amendments and get back to dealing with economic issues, Wang said that the two issues were not mutually exclusive.
Pressed by reporters yesterday, Hsu hinted that his amendment was targeted at Ma, the leading contender to be the KMT's presidential candidate in 2008.
"My main reason for trying to change the current government system to a parliamentary one was to prevent the possibility of a `super president,'" Hsu said.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chuo-shui (
For his part, Ma visited former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
KMT spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文) said Lien suggested that Ma improve communications with the party's legislators on this issue and enhance his interaction with them on other issues from time to time.
Ma apparently took Lien's advice. He has arranged for two meetings with KMT legislators -- one today and one on Thursday -- to discuss proposals to amend the Constitution.
Wang said that he would attend the meetings.
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
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
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard