Taiwan would likely need to adopt a coalition government model at the local and central levels within the next 10 years, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said yesterday.
The TPP held a news conference yesterday morning discussing the possibility of Taiwan adopting a coalition government model, like Japan did recently.
The conference focused on the coalition government formed between Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Innovation Party, which helped LDP President Sanae Takaichi secure her spot as Japan’s prime minister, Huang said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The two parties signed a formal agreement specifying the bills and policies they intend to advance in parliament before Takaichi was elected, he said.
Japan’s example provides insights for Taiwan as it moves toward a coalition government, he added.
At least three forums on local coalition governments are to be held, and Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) and Deputy Mayor Chiu Pei-ling (邱佩玲) have confirmed they would attend, Huang said.
By holding forums in different regions, people would be able to share their experience and discuss the prospect of creating local coalition governments, he said, adding that it would give Taiwanese more chances to get involved.
Huang did not specify which cities and counties might favor a coalition government between the TPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), but said that it has broad applications at the local and central levels.
Separately, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Justin Chuo (卓冠廷) yesterday said that the TPP is using the term “coalition government” to shift concepts and gain political advantages, adding that the central and local governments in Taiwan lack the necessary conditions to implement a coalition government.
A coalition government can only exist in a parliamentary system, in which parties work together to form a majority in the legislature so they can run a stable Cabinet, which naturally leads to alliances between parties, he said.
As Taiwan’s central government operates under a semi-presidential system and local governments run under a mayoral system, coalition governments are inapplicable, Chuo said.
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