‘TIME TO REBOOT’:The party urged KMT lawmakers to ‘make the right decision,’ while the TSU demanded a freeze on electricity price hikes and aims to recall Ma
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is expected to again propose a vote of no confidence against the “malfunctioning” Cabinet in the legislative session that begins tomorrow.
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has endorsed the proposal and is to attend the caucus meeting this morning for discussion with the 40-member strong caucus about the party’s position and strategy.
The DPP proposed a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet led by Premier Sean Chen in the three-day extra legislative session in late July, but the motion was rejected by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
“The Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration has been clueless about how to revive the stagnant economy and improve people’s livelihoods. We seriously recommend that Ma reshuffle the Cabinet,” Su said on a visit to Pingtung County.
Su compared performance of the Cabinet to a “computer crash” and said it was time to “reboot.”
The chairman is expected to meet the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, who control 64 of the 113 seats in the legislature, in a caucus meeting today and ask them to “make the right decision for the country.”
The Act Governing the Exercise of the Rights of the Legislative Yuan (立法院職權行使法) stipulates that the legislature may propose a no-confidence vote against the premier after collecting the signatures of more than one-third of the total number of legislators. The motion requires at least half the lawmakers to vote in its favor to pass.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the proposal was legitimate, as the country has ground to a halt and the DPP “does not object for the sake of objection.”
“The ball is now in the KMT’s court,” said Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), chief secretary of the DPP’s caucus.
The DPP said it would focus on the amendments of the Political Party Act (政黨法), the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Public Debt Act (公共債務法) and the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法), among others.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) is likely to make its first pitch on the scheduled second stage of the electricity price increase once the session begins by demanding a price freeze.
The party would boycott the premier’s scheduled report to the legislature — by occupying the podium if necessary — if the government failed to meet the demand, TSU caucus whip Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) said.
It would then concentrate on monitoring the administration’s China policy and demand the KMT return all its “ill-gotten assets” in the new session, she added.
The TSU, with only three lawmakers in the legislature, would also be aiming at a long-term goal of recalling Ma after a resolution was reached at the party national congress on Saturday.
TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said the TSU planned to establish petition stations across the country to collect signatures in a bid to recall Ma after the president finishes the first year of his four-year second term in May next year.
The Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) stipulates that a president or vice president who has not served for one year may not be recalled.
KMT lawmakers blocked the opposition’s proposal to recall Ma in May — five days before the end of Ma’s first term.
KMT caucus whip Lin Hong-chih (林鴻池) said it respected the opposition party’s rights to propose a no-confidence motion and urged the Cabinet to present efficient measures to improve the economy.