Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou’s reaction:
"[When the new premier takes the position] there will have been six premiers in seven years. This is not only harmful to our political stability, but also harms policy continuity," he said.
Yeah, six premiers in seven years DOESN’T sound very stable. But I’m sure I’m not the only one who recalls that the KMT spent much of 2006 threatening to call votes in the legislature in order to topple premier after premier in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Following through would have left Taiwan with a whole lot more than SIX ex-premiers. So it’s a bit gratifying then, to hear the former KMT chairman implicitly admit that his party plays a destabilizing role in Taiwanese politics.
UPDATE (May 15/07): So concerned with Taiwan’s political stability and continuity is Ma that a day later he expressed his willingness to look at proposals to hold a non-confidence vote in the legislature to oust the current Cabinet:
"The overthrow of [the] Cabinet isn’t a thing that shouldn’t be discussed," declared Ma, while on a bicycling campaign tour of south Taiwan.