Lai, Chiang call for social stability amid no-confidence vote talk

Taipei, April 19 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) both called for social stability Saturday, just two days after Chiang urged the Legislature to bring down the Cabinet in a no-confidence vote.

Lai and Chiang were invited to attend the opening of the Songshan Cihui Temple's new Muniang Cultural Hall in Taipei on Saturday, and it was their first public appearance together since Chiang's remarks calling for the Cabinet's dismissal.

"While Taiwan has been facing challenges from the outside recently, society should avoid further turmoil internally," said Chiang of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), who delivered his speech first.

"Let's work together to create an environment where everyone can live and work in peace, and feel more at ease," he said, adding that "those in positions of power" must always put people's livelihoods first and keep the well-being of the people in mind.

Lai, who also chairs the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), did not directly respond to Chiang's remarks, saying only that he hoped that under Muniang's blessing, "our country can be safe, society can be stable, and the people can live and work in peace."

The Muniang honored by the hall is a mother goddess known as the Queen Mother of the Western Skies, a prominent female deity in early Chinese mythology.

Both before and after their speeches, the two had little interaction aside from a brief handshake.

There was a slight mishap before they delivered their speeches, however.

Lai and Chiang were invited to pull down a red cloth covering a plaque to mark the hall's opening, but the cloth accidentally fell on Lai's head, causing a bit of a stir.

Chiang's remarks about the dismissal of the Cabinet have sparked debate in Taiwan since Thursday evening, when he raised the idea during a protest outside the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, urging opposition parties to use their joint legislative majority to pass the motion.

"The Legislature should push for the dismissal of the Cabinet instead of allowing the ruling power to continue hurting Taiwan unjustly," Chiang said at the time, arguing that the DPP has been using "the judicial system to suppress dissent."

The protest was held by the KMT -- the opposition party which, together with the Taiwan People's Party, holds a majority in the Legislature -- after four KMT local offices were raided over the past week by prosecutors, with several KMT staff members brought in for questioning.

The cases were based on allegations that petitions to initiate recall votes against DPP lawmakers had fake signatures, which the KMT framed as political persecution.

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) responded to Chiang's call for the Legislature to dismiss the Cabinet on Friday morning, saying, "whether the public agrees is an important issue."

"As for the Cabinet's dismissal, the Cabinet plays a passive role under the Constitution, so I have no comment," Cho added.