Unconfirmed reports that Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chang Chun-hsiung (
People First Party (PFP) legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (
Fu said President Chen Shui-bian (
He said Chang was obviously the president's "puppet," which would make him unable to defend the Cabinet's policies when questioned by lawmakers.
"Now that Hsieh will represent the DPP in the presidential election next year, he should come forward instead of standing behind Chang's back," Fu said.
PFP spokesman Lee Hung-chun (
KMT legislative caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (
"It's not that the KMT opposes a no-confidence vote on Chang. But according to the Constitution, a new premier is entitled to report to the legislature on his administration's polices and answer questions from lawmakers," Tseng said.
The vote "should wait until the legislature has had a question-and-answer session with the new premier," he said.
The legislature concluded its question-and-answer session with Su on May 1 and will go into recess on May 31.
"We might need to extend the current legislative session," Tseng said.
Tseng said that his party would not request that the Cabinet withdraw budget requests that are pending approval in the legislature and put forth new one from the next premier.
The government budget request for this fiscal year, the budget request for state-owned enterprises for the fiscal year, and this year's special budget request for major public construction projects remain stalled in the legislature.
Meanwhile, the pan-green camp yesterday called for cross-party negotiations on scheduling the legislative interpellation of the new premier.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) told the media that the Constitution stipulates that the Executive Yuan must present its administrative policies to the legislature.
As the end of the legislative session is approaching, party caucuses should start negotiating the questioning session as soon as possible, he said.
Without doing this, he said, passage of major bills such as the budget requests would likely be delayed.
When asked for comments, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Secretary-General Chien Cheng-shan (
TSU caucus whip Tseng Tsahn-deng (
However, the passage of the fiscal budget bill should be prioritized over the arrangement of the new premier's policy presentation and question session, Tseng said.
When asked for comments on the PFP caucus whip's proposal to call for a no-confidence vote against the new Cabinet, Tseng said it would be meaningless because the yet-to-be-named new premier has not done anything wrong.
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