Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday urged the central and local governments to refrain from threatening each other over voting procedures for the upcoming elections and referendums.
Stirring up public anger "cannot resolve the problem," he said, adding that both parties must turn to legislation to resolve the matter.
Hsieh made the remarks in Changhua County in response to the recent controversy over voting procedures for the legislative elections and two referendums in January.
The DPP has proposed a referendum seeking to force the KMT to return its stolen assets to the government. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has proposed holding a referendum on empowering the legislature to investigate the president and other top-level government officials regarding corruption allegations.
Hsieh yesterday said emotional outbursts would only make things worse, no matter who is in power.
He urged pan-blue-governed county and city heads to reconsider the issue, because they would not want to see townships, villages and cities under their supervision challenge their authority.
Meanwhile, Hsieh yesterday criticized the KMT for dwelling on negative aspects of the economy.
"The reason they do that is because they think it will work to their advantage," he said.
Hsieh said that although the former KMT administration encouraged Taiwanese businesses to relocate to China, they had no kind words about Taiwan to attract foreign investment.
"The upcoming elections are a showdown between identification with Taiwan and identification with China," he said. "The economic prosperity I promote is different from the KMT's party-state capitalism."
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit