Hundreds of academics yesterday called on Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) to step down for his poor performance as head of the Cabinet and for violating the Constitution.
The academics issued a joint appeal titled “The shamelessness of intellectuals is a national disgrace,” in which they listed the “four mistakes” they said Jiang has committed.
They refused to refer to him as him as the premier in the appeal, calling him “Mr Jiang Yi-huah” because he is “no longer qualified for the title,” they told a press conference in Taipei.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Jiang had neither tried to stop the illegal wiretaps in a “political plot” against President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) rivals — Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) — nor advised Ma against waging an internal battle within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the academics said.
They also accused him of speaking in contempt of the legislature — a serious breach of the constitutional spirit of the separation of powers, the statement said, adding that the premier has refused to apologize to the legislature over the comment, leading to the current stalemate between the executive and legislative branches of government.
“While the no-confidence motion is unlikely to pass, it is important to hold responsible individuals accountable for the political strife in September because responsible politics is what democracy is all about,” Nanhua University assistant professor Steve Wang (王思為) told the press conference.
Aside from the news conference organized by Taiwan Forever Association (台灣永社), in which they issued the appeal, the academics also held a separate press conference simultaneously yesterday morning.
Jiang’s claim that a failed no-confidence motion would represent public confidence in the Cabinet was “shameless,” Chung Hua University associate professor Tseng Chien-yuan (曾建元) said at the second event.
Tseng also rebutted a common criticism of the DPP’s proposal, saying that a no-confidence motion would be a responsible countermeasure with the least cost against the executive branch’s unilateral and authoritative policy as well as a good solution to break a political gridlock.
The motion has two implications for the Ma administration, National Dong Hwa University professor Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) said.
“First, it sends a warning to Ma and tells him that he is not an emperor and he cannot do whatever he wants. Second, it is a warning to Jiang that he cannot expect to climb up the political ladder with the way he governs now,” Shih said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS