Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) remained uncommitted toward a proposal by leaders of the nation’s six main industrial and commercial groups to hold a national affairs conference to break the ongoing political impasse so all parties can focus on economic issues.
Jiang responded to the call during a meeting with the business leaders by saying that whether to organize a national affairs conference is “for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to decide,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) told reporters last night.
Concerned with the prolonged struggle between Ma and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) stemming from improper lobbying allegations against Wang allegedly exerted to ease legal pressure on Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), the business leaders on Tuesday issued a statement calling for an end to political infighting.
They expressed their concerns to Wang and Jiang in person yesterday.
Unlike Jiang, who was reticent about the possibility of having a national affairs conference, Wang welcomed the idea.
General Chamber of Commerce chairman Lawrence Chang (張平沼) said Wang “was more anxious” about the opposition’s boycott against Jiang in the legislature.
Since the current legislative session began on Sept. 17, Jiang has failed in six attempts to present his policy report to the legislature and to take questions from lawmakers in a routine question-and-answer session.
Jiang declined to give in to the opposition parties’ demand that he apologize for his role in the political infighting which they said has constituted an infringement of the constitutional separation of powers.
Wang proposed on Tuesday that the question-and-answer session be pushed back by at least two weeks to ease political tensions.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday decided that the party would only agree to Wang’s proposal if the DPP guaranteed that Jiang would be able to take the podium on Oct. 25 and that it would not block a number of major acts during the period.
KMT caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said that the party hoped that the legislature would ratify the economic cooperation agreement Taiwan signed with New Zealand in July and the cross-strait service trade agreement and pass other acts related to government restructuring in the next two weeks.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) yesterday authorized the execution of convicted murderer Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), the first death row prisoner to be put to death since President William Lai (賴清德) took office. Huang was to be executed via a firing squad yesterday evening, which would leave Taiwan with 36 convicts on death row. Huang on Oct. 1, 2013, broke into his ex-girlfriend Wang Ping-chih’s (王品智) residence in New Taipei City, where he raped and murdered Wang. He also killed Wang’s mother. Huang was bitter over the breakup and her accusation that he had stolen NT$200,000 (US$6,074) from her bank account, prosecutors said
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