TAIPEI (TVBS News) — President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) called on Taiwan's first meeting of the five government branch heads to address national affairs on Monday (Feb 10). The nearly two-hour meeting aimed to foster collaboration among political parties and concluded with three shared goals: to build a shared platform to strengthen cooperation and communication, ensure the smooth implementation of governance, and safeguard national security, and prioritize people's well-being beyond the partisan competition.
Lai emphasized the importance of cooperation over zero-sum politics, urging a focus on the people, democracy, and the unity of the government. High-level officials, including Executive Yuan (行政院) Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), the president of Legislative Yuan (立法院) Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), and acting President of Judicial Yuan (司法院) Hsieh Ming-yang (謝銘洋), attended the meeting. Vice President of the Control Yuan Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) was also present and highlighted the serious constitutional impact of budget cuts, framing it as more than just a partisan struggle.
As the Legislative speaker, Han pledged to deliver the Central Government General Budget (中央政府總預算案) review report by this weekend, urging the Executive Yuan not to veto the budget. Meanwhile, Premier Cho expressed hope through a press release that the Legislative Yuan would reconsider the veto to address unreasonable cuts and freezes. He also requested Han's assistance in resolving three contentious bills and expressed two regrets.
Following the meeting, Secretary-General to the President Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) announced plans to establish a closer communication platform and cooperation mechanism among the branches to ensure smooth governance. Addressing public interest in whether such meetings will become routine, Pan noted, adding that the president's constitutional authority to convene these discussions is set to advance Taiwan's progress.
