By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is working to develop an opposition alliance in the legislature with the People First Party (PFP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), which would focus on the promotion of legislative reform, the party said yesterday.
A five-member panel convened by DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has authorized DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) to represent the party in negotiations, with a possible joint nomination in the election for legislative speaker tomorrow, DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) told a press conference.
Ker was expected to discuss the talks with the panel, which in addition to Tsai and Ker, includes Chen and DPP legislators Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) and Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津), before a final round of talks at a DPP caucus meeting, Chen said.
In other news, Chen said the DPP was disappointed with some of the nominees to the new Cabinet, such as Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) becoming the finance minister and Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) taking over as CEPD minister.
The nominations of Liu and Yiin, who both played the role of “hired thugs” for the Ma administration during the presidential election campaign, were an obvious “political reward,” Chen said.
Although President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he would reflect on why he was re-elected by a margin of only 6 percent after a landslide victory in 2008, the Cabinet nominations failed to demonstrate any self-reflection at all, Chen said.
“[The nominations] tell us that Ma has a serious problem when it comes to making personnel decisions,” Chen said.