News of the Week (May 3-9, 2007)

News of the Week

May 3-9,2007

1.The DPP held the party member vote of their presidential primary on May 6. Former premier Frank Hsieh garnered the majority of the votes and will represent the DPP in the 2008 presidential election.

2.Speaking about the fierce in-fighting among the four DPP contenders during their presidential primary, former chairman of the KMT Ma Ying-jeou pointed out that while the DPP infighting was ferocious, the future competition for the presidency would be worse. “Although we have done the necessary preparations, we sincerely hope that the coming presidential election will be fair. Whether one loses or wins in the presidential election, we cannot let the Taiwanese people lose,” Ma intoned.

3.A United Daily News opinion poll conducted on May 7th showed that Ma Ying-jeou’s support rate was 43%, ahead of Frank Hsieh’s 28%, while another opinion poll conducted by the China Times on May 9th showed that Ma’s support rate was 33%, ahead of Hsieh at 24%.

4.The United Daily News reported on May 8th that a 2/28 Incident special report produced by the SET TV news department used documentary footage shot during the Chinese civil war in Shanghai to falsely represent a scene from the 2/28 Incident. Chen Ya-lin, a SET TV producer, argued that Juan Mei-shu, the provider of the footage, had not told her that the film had been shot in Shanghai. However, Juan Mei-shu retorted by saying she had never said that the documentary showing several KMT soldiers shooting communists in Shanghai was footage from the 2/28 Incident. Under enormous pressure, SET TV finally made a public apology on May 9th. Meanwhile, the National Communications Commission (NCC) has been discussing suitable penalty. In addition, the KMT, in order to uphold its reputation, also decided to take legal action, suing SET TV for defamation and seeking damages.

5.The plenary session of the Legislative Yuan was scheduled on May 8 to discuss a draft bill of the “Central Election Commission Organic Act” and the Central Government general budget for the 2007 fiscal year. The ruling DPP legislators malevolently obstructed Speaker Wang Jin-pyng from presiding over the meeting, leading to serious fistfighting between DPP and PFP and KMT legislators. Lawmakers from both sides were hurt. Later, Speaker Wang made a solemn statement, condemning the DPP for using any means to obstruct the proceedings of the legislative agenda. This unreasonable obstruction not only violated the principle of majority rule, but also harmed the development and progress of Taiwan’s democracy, he said.

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