On Aug. 8, DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen
Wu is a senior member of the DPP's New Tide faction
The premier is the highest executive of the ROC; his power is next to the president's and the vice president's. Few, however, can really understand the difficulties of being premier.
Perhaps former premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) does. Tang and Siew are both talented and competent persons. Nevertheless, trapped in Taiwan's semi-presidential system they have found themselves stuck in the middle -- between a president who has supreme power and a cabinet whose members consider the president as their real boss. The premier, who has to face interrogation in the Legislative Yuan, is just like the president's punching bag, getting hit by everybody.
Tang's situation is worse than what Siew faced. Being from the minority party in the Legislative Yuan, President Chen Shui-bian
Even though Siew chaired several government ministries and was assigned by the KMT to run in a legislative election in order to familiarize himself with the political situation in the Legislative Yuan before he was actually appointed as the premier, he was criticized for being Lee Teng-hui's
Tang, however, was a military man. His professional experience and interpersonal connections are limited largely to the military. Without a sound business, management, justice, or political background and lacking capable and experienced officials to assist him, it's no surprise that the effectiveness and quality of the new government's policies is being questioned.
Moreover, Tang is plagued by bad luck. Before the new government was formed, he was hospitalized and underwent surgery. Next he faced tough challenges from the Legislative Yuan. Then the Pachang Creek tragedy (
Wu's criticism once again highlighted concerns for the position of premier. However, if our constitutional structure cannot be improved, anyone appointed premier will face similar difficulties. If the DPP and KMT intend to help Tang, possible adjustments to the semi-presidential system should be thoroughly discussed at the interparty round table meeting called by Chen.
If we can have a political system with a clear division of authority and responsibility, then either the presidential system
Vincent Lin is the assistant editor-in-chief of the Taipei Times.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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