The Cabinet and the legislature both denied a rumor that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government will invite Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Wang is a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which holds a majority in the legislature.
"To appoint anybody to be the premier is the president's decision, so it is not appropriate for the Cabinet to comment on this issue at the moment," Government Information Office Minister Pasuya Yao (姚文智) said yesterday.
"In addition, this issue was not discussed during [yesterday's] Cabinet meeting," he said.
Yao made his remarks during a press conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning. He said that whether to appoint a new premier or reshuffle the Cabinet was a decision to be made by the president, and that if such a decision were made, it would be announced by the Presidential Office.
Therefore, "I currently cannot make any comment on that issue," Yao said.
In the meantime, Wang told reporters that he met with the president and talked about "national affairs," but that they had not talked about anything related to his becoming premier.
"The president has never talked about this issue with me. I am not interested in the premier's job, either," Wang said. "At this moment, I just want to do my job well."
"I am not a three-year-old child. I know what I must do," he said.
People First Party caucus whip Hwang Yih-jiau (
"If he did, he would have only 30 months left in the current [presidential] term to be the premier. He would not have enough time to make any long-term plans and carry them out," Hwang said.
However, he said that if Wang accepted the offer, he would first seek understanding from the pan-blue camp and resolve conflicts with the pan-green camp, and then try to understand what the president really means when it comes to national policies.
"I think it would be a difficult task. I do not think that Wang would do that," Hwang said.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Cheng Chen-lung (程振隆) said that he would welcome the idea of inviting Wang to be premier.
"This idea totally fits the `co-existence' theory that was proposed by Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), and it would take great courage for the ruling government to do so," Cheng said. "If [the president] really does this, the TSU will support him."
Meanwhile, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma said he has no idea whether Chen would ask Wang to form a Cabinet, but he added that if that is the case, the matter should be discussed between the DPP and the KMT in line with the spirit of the "double government chief" system.
According to the "double government chief" system, if the ruling party does not have a majority in the Legislative Yuan, it may allow the legislative majority party or a coalition to form the Cabinet.
Ma said that five-and-a-half years ago, Chen's approval ratings rose to a record high after he appointed Tang Fei (唐飛) -- a KMT stalwart -- to the post of premier.
However, Tang served only five months before being sacked by Chen, Ma said, attributing Tang's record-short stint to the absence of party-to-party consultations prior to his appointment.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
RSS