President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday lauded Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators' efforts to pass the amendment to the Local Government Act (地方制度法) on Monday, vowing to assert the party's dominance in the legislature.
The KMT-dominated legislature pushed through the disputed amendment during a hastily arranged extra legislative session on Monday amid fistfights, yelling, shouting and pushing.
Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, said his party did not let the public down because it helped push through the legal revision in spite of opposition from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES
“It is not in the interest of one party, but the whole nation and the people,” he said.
“It will benefit not only the two parties, but also the public,” Ma said while chairing the party's weekly Central Standing Committee.
Ma criticized the DPP, saying it had really earned its name as an “opposition” party as it had opposed the bill simply for the sake of opposition.
“It's not a good phenomenon in a democracy,” he said.
“We respected the opinions of the minority parties, but they still boycotted the bill for no reason. I fully support the action taken by the KMT legislative caucus and hope to push through more bills using the same method,” the president said.
Ma said many were disappointed with the KMT because it could not pursue its agenda despite its legislative majority.
“It is not my problem alone, but that of the whole party,” he said. “As the chairman, I must change the situation. We are not the ruling party if we cannot make such changes.”
Ma's remark drew a round of applause from committee members.
KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世), who spoke before Ma during the meeting, threw down the gauntlet, saying the KMT legislative caucus would not seek war, but neither would it shy away if compromises fail to guarantee smooth passage of legislation.
Nonetheless, he urged the executive branch to strengthen its communications with the legislative branch.
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
DEMAND: The government should enact regulations in line with Austria and Germany to incorporate vegan nutrition into school meals, an advocate said More than 1,000 people yesterday marched in Taipei to promote veganism, calling for legislation to incorporate vegan diets into school lunches and the national net zero emissions program. Participants gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building for the march, which was organized by the Vegan Action Network (VAN). Former ambassador to Chad Chiu Chung-jen (邱仲仁), actor Yankee Yang (楊子儀) and actress Cindy Lien (連俞涵) attended the event. VAN member Marianne Chao (趙梅君) said that the campaign aimed to urge the government to promote vegan diets across schools and government agencies via legislation and national policies, which would help build
RSS