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Premier, finance minister tender their resignations

Both Premier Yu Shyi-kun and Minister of Finance Lee Yung-san (李庸三) tendered their resignations yesterday in the wake of the government's about-turn on reform of farmers' and fishermen's credit institutions.

Yu, as Lee's immediate superior rejected his resignation, and Yu's own resignation was rejected in turn by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

But the fate of both senior government figures still hangs in the balance.

Senior sources in the DPP told the Taipei Times, "Their futures will depend on the impact of today's march of farmers and fishermen. If emotions are not eased following the march Lee will be replaced and Yu's position will become uncertain."

Earlier yesterday, while Yu offered his resignation to Chen three times, presidential officials stressed that Chen had no intention of replacing any official in the wake of the policy turnaround. But You Ying-lung (游盈隆), deputy secretary-general of the DPP, hinted to reporters that a small-scale reshuffle in the Cabinet was likely to take place after the Dec. 7 Kaohsiung and Taipei mayoral elections.

You and other DPP leaders indicated their view that Lee and chairman of the Council of Agriculture Fan Chen-tsung (范振宗), who was overseas amid the commotion, should to replaced after the local elections, the sources said.

Three months after the finance ministry introduced a three-tiered risk-control mechanism on the 304 credit units of the farmers and fishermen's associations suffering from outstanding non-performing loans, the Cabinet announced Sunday evening that it would indefinitely suspend the initiative because the reform efforts had provoked enormous opposition from the grassroots.

Chen on Thursday demanded Cabinet officials take responsibility for the resentment among farmers and fishermen resulting from the reform measures and criticized the relevant officials for having hidden the truth from him.

Although James Huang (黃志芳), a spokesman for the Presidential Office, pointed out that what the president meant was "to urge the executive departments to face and solve the problems," Chen's statement rocked political circles.

In response to Lee's offer to resign, Cabinet spokesman Chuang Shuo-han (莊碩漢) said the premier had persuaded him to stay put.

During a meeting with the president yesterday, Premier Yu offered to "assume full responsibility for the furor."

The Presidential Office released a press release saying the president greatly admired the premier's courage, and was convinced that the Cabinet would ultimately achieve the goal of reform.

The president stressed that he would personally accept all criticisms of the government's handling of the situation, as he said he had done when addressing farmers and fishermen in the countryside in recent days.

The finance minister offered his resignation saying that he was frustrated and upset by the furor generated by the government's handling of agricultural finance reform and said he would step down to assume his political responsibility.

Fan, who also met with Yu, was under even more pressure to step down.

The head of the Council of Agriculture has been attacked for failing to act as a means of communication between the government and farmers and fishermen.

He had also drawn fierce criticism for being absent on a relatively unimportant business trip to Thailand during the crisis and not returning to Taiwan until Thursday. The president expressed his dissatisfaction over Fan's absence during the DPP's Central Standing Committee meeting on Tuesday.

Fan told the media that he had warned the Cabinet not to under-estimate the opposition from farmers, adding, "I will not shirk my responsibility."

He was later reported to have stated his intention to resign today.

DPP officials yesterday called on the ministers concerned to provide the public with detailed explanations of their actions while opposition parties demanded Yu step down and the president "assume all responsibility."
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