Tue, Oct 30, 2001 page3

• Parties spar over Cabinet appointment

  CAMPAIGN ISSUE The opposition says those with a legislative majority should be have the right to form the Cabinet but the DPP insists it's the president's call

  • By Stephanie Low and Joyce Huang / STAFF REPORTERS
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  The DPP and the opposition camp continued to spar yesterday over who has the right to appoint the Cabinet after the Dec. 1 legislative elections.

  The latest round began after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Sunday said the DPP government would lead the formation of the new Cabinet -- regardless of the outcome of the polls.

  KMT and PFP officials yesterday said Chen lacked a basic understanding of the Constitution and the principles of democracy.

  Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正), KMT secretary-general, said the result of the elections will determine whether the DPP should surrender its right to form the Cabinet.

  "For the sake of national stability, the majority in the legislature should be respected," Lin said. "Otherwise the political scene will become even more chaotic."

  But DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) described the opposition's demands as "political blackmail." He said giving up the right to appoint Cabinet members would amount to a "coup d'etat."

  "The president is empowered by the Constitution to form the Cabinet and does not need legislative consent," Hsieh told reporters in Kaohsiung.

  In addition, the DPP chairman said the opposition parties have been sending the message to the electorate that if Chen refuses to acquiesce on the Cabinet issue, they will continue to boycott the DPP government and prolong the political standoff in the legislature.

  But Hsieh said he believed the public would voice their disapproval should the political stalemate continue.

  During a campaign rally on Sunday, Chen said the DPP government would lead the formation of a coalition Cabinet based on party-to-party negotiations. He rejected the opposition's argument that the party or group representing a majority in the legislature should be given the right to form the Cabinet.

  Chen said it was a matter of "common sense" that didn't require "studying in the US" or "a doctorate degree" to understand -- an indirect reference to Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who holds a doctoral degree in law from Harvard University.

  Ma said in Tainan on Sunday that if the opposition wins more than half the legislative seats, Chen should give up the right to form the Cabinet.

  Chen said that if the opposition's argument had merit, there wouldn't be any need to elect a president.

  Citing his experience as Taipei mayor, Chen said his power to appoint officials in the Taipei City Government was never challenged, despite the fact that the KMT held a majority of the seats on the Taipei City Council.

  In response to Ma, DPP Secretary-general Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) said that Harvard should nullify Ma's diploma, or else the Taipei mayor should hand it back in voluntarily.

  Justin Chou (周守訓), spokesman of the KMT's Culture and Communications Affairs Committee, said it was "ridiculous" for the president to compare city and national politics.

  "It worries us very much to hear these remarks, which were spoken from the mouth of a president who doesn't understand the Constitution a bit," Chou said.

  "Any student who studied civics in junior high school knows that the matters of local self-government are not to be confused with those of the central government."

  PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) said Chen's remarks had astonished even the most uneducated people.

  Soong said it was inappropriate for Chen to compare Taiwan and the US, as the latter practices a full presidential system and doesn't have a premier.

  In Taiwan, Soong said, the premier rather than the president is the person entitled by the Constitution to form the Cabinet, although the president has the power to appoint the premier.

  "The majority opinion in the legislature should be respected in order to prevent a confrontation between the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan," Soong said.

  Former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) voiced a similar opinion, saying the premier is responsible to the legislature and should obtain the support of the majority in order to govern effectively.

  "These are the ABCs of politics which everybody knows," Shih said. "It's a matter of whether we are going to obey this rule."
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