An alliance of opposition party members yesterday said that they would seek to force the resignation of Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
The ruling is widely expected to fall short of declaring the premiers action unconstitutional while nevertheless suggesting that correct procedures were not followed.
The three major opposition parties said they would address a statement to the DPP government asking it to "obey and uphold the ROC Constitution."
"Even if the constitutional interpretation just asks the Cabinet to obtain the Legislative Yuan's approval before declaring the halt of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, it can be regarded as ruling that the government's decision was unconstitutional," said KMT spokesman Jason Hu (
Council of Grand Justice sources said on Friday that the interpretation will not explicitly say whether the Cabinet's decision was unconstitutional but will say that the Executive Yuan should have followed necessary procedures by first presenting the decision to the Legislative Yuan.
The DPP, therefore, believes that it will not be necessary to replace the premier but only to smooth over its past procedural errors.
"The premier is willing to make a report [on the decision] at the Legislative Yuan and then wait for a decision made by all lawmakers about whether to pass the DPP government's new policy," said DPP legislative caucus leader Lee Wen-chung (李文忠). "It was opposition parties who voted to refuse to allow Premier Chang from entering the Legislative Yuan," Lee added.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"If the interpretation clearly says that the Cabinet was at fault for not following procedures, then the premier has to take responsibility for those faults," Wang said.
Government Information Office Director-General Su Tzen-ping (
The Presidential Office and the DPP also declined to speculate on the impending ruling.
Some political analysts foresee a new round of political tensions if the ruling finds the government's decision was not in compliance with constitutional procedure.
The government abruptly announced its decision to stop construction of the plant, already 30 percent complete, last October, without first obtaining approval from the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan.
Scholars said that the constitutional interpretation would only bring about new political struggles between the opposition party and the ruling party and would not encourage a rational discussion on the issue of Taiwan's energy policy.
"There is no sign that the vicious fights between the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan will end after the constitutional interpretation," said Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), deputy director of the Institute of International Relations.
"What those politicians care about is ensuring that the government takes responsibility for the recent chaos, not debating the question of whether Taiwan really needs a new nuclear power plant," Wu added.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work