Ho's appointment greeted warmly

Lyu will become a minister without portfolio.

Although most legislators know little about Ho, many have said they expressed hopes that the new minister could get the hang of the job as soon as possible to narrow the state deficit, promote fair taxation and closely guard the nation's assets.

Some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers, were unhappy about the abrupt change of personnel.

"This is the arrogance of power. We did not know about the news until the media unveiled it. The Executive Yuan didn't discuss it with the caucus," DPP Legislator Lin Chung-mo (林重謨) said yesterday.

DPP caucus whip Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) said that he and two other caucus whips were kept completely in the dark about the move and felt the Executive Yuan had shown a lack of respect for caucus members.

In response, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) apologized yesterday afternoon and said that the Executive Yuan will improve communication channels between the Cabinet and caucus and will be more attentive to the announcement of personnel reshuffles.

additional reporting by By Jewel Huang