Taipei, Jan 31 (EFE).- A Taiwanese minority party, whose eight legislators will be key to forming a majority in parliament, said Wednesday it would not support the candidacies of the two main formations.
The People’s Party of Taiwan, or PPT, said in a press conference through its parliamentary leader Huang Kuo-chang that it would present former Taipei vice mayor Huang Shan-shan as his party’s candidate for speaker.
The 54-year-old politician joins Han Kuo-yu, the Kuomintang candidate, and You Si-kun of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP.
The Jan. 13 legislative elections produced no clear parliamentarian majorities. The Kuomintang is the force with the most seats, 52 (54 adding two independent legislators); followed by the DPP, with 51, and the PPT, with eight.
According to Taiwan’s parliamentary system, the election of president and vice president of the Legislative Yuan must have the favorable votes of half plus one of the 113 elected legislators. If an absolute majority is not reached in the first vote, a second vote will be held, in which the force with the greatest number of votes will win.
In the event that Huang Shan-shan loses in the first round, the PPT said it anticipated he would not participate in the second round of voting, which open the way for the Kumintang to assume the parliament’s presidency.
Parliamentary control by the opposition would be a challenge for incumbent President William Lai, who won with 40 percent of the votes in the elections, but whose party, the DPP, lost the majority he held.
Parliament has important prerogatives, among which are the approval of laws, the proposal of constitutional amendments and the ability to promote a motion of no confidence against the prime minister. EFE
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