KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday pressed President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to tell the public whether Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) would be replaced after the Dec.1 legislative elections.
Lien said the premier, as the government's top executive, should be held responsible for the country's severe economic recession.
According to Lien, Chen has avoided the question despite his promise to form a "cross-party alliance for national stabilization" to prepare for the formation of a new Cabinet.
"The premier is directly responsible for the administration of the government, which has led the country to such a backward situation," Lien said during a KMT campaign rally yesterday in Matsu.
"Is such a premier qualified to continue to assume this position after the elections? Does he not need to assume any responsibility?"
Lien called Chang's future a "constitutional- level" question that must be clarified immediately, especially as Chang has made various policy promises at recent DPP campaign rallies.
"If he were replaced, would his promises still be effective?" Lien asked.
Lien also said that the legislature is set to review the fiscal 2002 budget proposal submitted by Chang's Cabinet as soon as it reopens after the polls and that it would be pointless to review the proposal if Chang is to step down.
Chen has promised to form a coalition government after the elections and has said that members of his proposed cross-party alliance would be able to express their opinions over the appointment of the premier.
During an interview with the local-Chinese language media on Saturday, DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (
Lien yesterday reiterated his stance that the alliance is unnecessary, arguing that the Constitution itself is sufficient to guide the Cabinet's formation.
Lien urged all supporters of the opposition alliance to vote for the KMT in the upcoming elections to help it maintain its status as the largest party in the legislature. "We hope all our comrades, friends and supporters will return to the big family of the KMT to work with us."
Meanwhile, KMT spokesman Wang Chih-kang (
Wang said the goals of such an alliance would be to form a Constitution-abiding government, reverse Taiwan's economic miracle and develop cross-strait relations based on the Taiwan-first principle.
Wang dismissed as unfounded a PFP allegation that the KMT would form a "green alliance" with the DPP after the elections. Wang said the KMT would not cooperate with a party that doesn't abide by the Constitution and doesn't identify with the country's national status.
Though the KMT has said that it would not rule out the possibility of cooperating with any political party, it insists that the formation of a coalition Cabinet should be based on party-to-party negotiations. The KMT has also asked that the DPP abide by its interpretation of the constitutional framework and respect what it claims to be the majority party's right to lead the formation of the Cabinet.
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