President William Lai (賴清德) this morning called for transformation and unity at a Lunar New Year tea reception for the heads of all five government branches.
It marked the first time in Taiwan’s history that the heads of all five branches came together for a reception.
Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) joined for the closed-door event at Presidential Office Building in Taipei.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
Also in attendance were Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), Judical Yuan Acting President Shieh Ming-yan (謝銘洋) Examination Yuan President Chou Hung-hsien (周弘憲) and Control Yuan Acting President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞).
After the meeting, Han told reporters that he invited Lai to personally address the legislature on issues to resolve in the next legislative session.
Lai “gladly accepted” and is willing to deliver a state of the nation report at the legislature, Han said.
Questions would be submitted at once and answered all together in Lai’s address, he said, adding that this is a “basic courtesy” that would be respected by the legislature.
Han described today’s reception as a positive example of the government coming together despite political conflict, and hoped it would set a precedent going forward.
Han said he would relay Lai’s intentions to the three political parties to reach a consensus, upon which the Legislative Yuan would issue a formal invitation to the president.
The opposition parties have previously called for Lai to deliver an address to the legislature followed by a question-and-answer session.
However, the Lai administration and Democratic Progressive Party maintain that subjecting the president to questioning by the legislature is unconstitutional and infringes on the balance of power among the branches of government.
The theme of Lai’s speech at today’s meeting was “transformation,” as he called for the ruling and opposition parties to turn major issues into minor ones and to resolve minor issues altogether.
He also called for the government to turn misunderstandings into understandings, division into unity, personal interest into national interest and conflict into peace.
Hopefully the reception would be a first step in enacting these changes, for the sake of the nation, society and the people of Taiwan, Lai said.
The meeting concerned family affairs, state affairs and world affairs, he added.
Lai recalled that last year, he hosted a reception for Han and his delegation before they departed for Washington to attend US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, at which he stressed that in Taiwan, there is no animosity that cannot be put aside.
The government missed many opportunities last year, but as a new year starts, it would take every opportunity to promote unity, especially as Taiwan faces a number of challenges both domestically and internationally, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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