Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
"I can't continue to push for [the CEO plan] anymore because the KMT has spoken against it," Hsieh said when approached by the press for comment during his visit to Lee Kun-yao (李焜耀), chairman of AU Optronics Corp (友達光電).
Last week, Hsieh suggested to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) that he should negotiate with the KMT, which will hold a two-third majority in the new legislature following its Jan. 12 electoral victory, on selecting a CEO as premier.
He said the suggestion was made out of concern for "political continuity."
"If the KMT had accepted the CEO plan, we wouldn't see another appointment of a new premier three months from now [after the May 20 presidential inauguration], regardless of who wins the presidential election," Hsieh said.
Hsieh said yesterday that his CEO proposal was "meaningless" without the KMT's support and participation, adding that "no CEO would accept a three-month premier position."
"Moreover, it would be a very tough three-months for any CEO [in terms of interacting with the legislature]," Hsieh said.
"The CEO idea should stop here because now that the KMT has rejected talks on the matter, any entrepreneur nominated would face a KMT boycott," he said.
Responding to KMT criticism that the DPP had never asked it for opinions about Cabinet appointments during its seven years of administration, Hsieh said: "That was because that the KMT was not the single largest party in the legislature."
The KMT refused to discuss appointments for the new Cabinet during a meeting between KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
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