President William Lai (賴清德) is working “the world’s weirdest democratic miracle” by choosing recalls over communication in resolving disagreements between the minority government and opposition parties, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday.
Chu made the remarks following an interview Lai had with the Mindi World News, released on Saturday ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow.
In the interview, when asked whether the recall movement against KMT lawmakers is the only solution to a standoff between the Cabinet and the Legislative Yuan, Lai said that problems in a democracy must be resolved with democracy.
Photo: CNA
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) early in January called for mass recalls to vote out KMT lawmakers.
Lai in the interview said the recall campaigns were initiated by citizens in response to multiple unconstitutional bills proposed by opposition lawmakers in the legislature, including amendments to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) and the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法).
“The power of citizens is invaluable. They are exercising the rights granted to them by the Constitution, which include not only the right of election, but also rights of recall, initiative and referendum,” Lai said.
“This civic movement embodies the progress in Taiwan’s democratic system — a step forward from indirect democracy, or representative democracy, to direct democracy,” he said.
Regarding dialogue between the governing and opposition parties, Lai said the more communications, the better, but added that cross-caucus negotiations failed, as did his attempts to communicate with opposition parties after assuming office.
“The KMT and the [Taiwan People’s Party] hold a majority in the legislature and they would focus on running their own political agenda,” he said, adding that communications that were required by law were ineffective, as not all parties were willing to negotiate.
In response to Lai’s remarks, Chu said that no democratic country would be happy to see recall campaigns.
“Unfortunately, there seemed to be no words such as ‘parley,’ ‘communication’ or ‘dialogue’ in Lai’s dictionary over the past year,” he said, adding that “all Lai could see was competition.”
“Based on what Lai said, recalls would be the solution to ... the problems of the minority government. Is he trying to work the weirdest democratic miracle in the world?” he said.
When Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the DPP was president from 2000 to 2008, he would face problems with the KMT head-on, and resolve them through meetings with opposition leaders, Chu said.
Lai does nothing but fight against opposition parties through recalls, he said.
“You lose an election, and you recall elected competitors and hold another election. Why not change the rules and make the election annual? That would be most convenient,” he joked.
Chu said that Lai has been unwilling to engage with opposition lawmakers.
“Whether it was a meeting on national affairs, a dialogue between the governing and opposition parties, or any other form of communication, Lai shut the door on the opposition’s proposals,” he said. “Is this so-called ‘greater democracy’? Or is it autocracy?”
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