Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma said Hsieh was making an issue out of nothing and stressed that the KMT would respect the president's decision on appointing a premier.
"I already said that the so-called `CEO premier' is a non-issue and the DPP has to put an end to that issue. The KMT did not agree to the idea, nor did we reject it," Ma said after attending a ceremony to launch a supporters' group for his campaign in Taipei.
Hsieh on Friday criticized the KMT for rejecting his idea of selecting a CEO as premier, arguing that his proposal was pointless unless it had the support of the KMT.
"The KMT's stance on the matter has been consistent. The appointment of the new Cabinet, or the `caretaker Cabinet,' is the DPP's decision. We respect the president's decision as long as the Cabinet functions well under the Constitution," Ma said.
After President Chen Shui-bian (
Wang said the Constitution did not stipulate when a Cabinet should resign and said that having to replace the Cabinet at this juncture would complicate administration and harm social stability, since the Cabinet will have to resign again before the presidential inauguration in May.
It has become an established procedure for the premier to lead the Cabinet in resigning before a new legislature is sworn in.
The tradition dates back to when Cabinet appointments required legislative approval. That approval was, however, done away with in a 1997 constitutional amendment.
Wang also echoed Ma's criticism of the CEO premier idea, accusing the DPP of cooking up the proposal to "manipulate the election."
"The right to form the Cabinet belongs to the president and it's unnecessary to consult the KMT," he said.
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
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS