Leaders of the KMT and the People First Party yesterday rejected President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) proposal to form a "cross-party alliance for national stabilization" after the Dec. 1 legislative elections. They then urged the president to abide by the Constitution in the formation of a new Cabinet.
KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) dismissed the Chen-proposed alliance as redundant and unnecessary.
"As long as everybody respects the constitutional system, the spirit of negotiation and the majority in the legislature, I'm sure we can form an efficient, functional government," Lien told reporters during a stopover in Kaohsiung before a campaign trip to Pingtung County. "It is unnecessary to bring about extra complications."
Lien said that since nobody has a clue as to what the alliance really means, it would be quite impossible for the KMT to join it.
He said the proposal was just another smokescreen by Chen to deflect public attention away from punishing the DPP over the severity of the economic situation.
"With only nine days left before the polls, [Chen] is playing a trick a day and just won't talk about the economy," Lien said.
At a campaign rally in Pingtung County, Lien urged the DPP to get "to the core of the problem," citing a Bible story in which Jesus asked one of his disciples to fish in the middle of the lake, instead of staying at the bank.
"We hope the government will go to the deep end of the lake and find an answer to the nation's ills," Lien said.
PFP Chairman James Soong (
Soong reasoned that Chen's proposal was a clear indication that the president would never surrender the right to form a Cabinet.
Soong also highlighted what he saw as an attempt to create splits within the opposition by picking off individual legislators to take part in the alliance, rather than dealing directly with the opposition parties.
"Would members of the alliance be political parties or individuals? This is a problem that will hamper its functioning and questions its feasibility," Soong said during a campaign trip to Ilan County. "Under these circumstances we see no prospect for a resolution to the post-election deadlock."
Soong suggested that Chen should respect the majority in the legislature and establish a mechanism for inter-party negotiations in order to achieve stability.
"Political stability will be impossible if the president isn't prepared to negotiate and share power with other parties," he said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS