Print

Mail

wiki links

Premier Yu accepts two resignations

Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday accepted the resignations of Minister of Finance Lee Yung-san (李庸三) and Council of Agriculture Chairman Fan Chen-tsung (范振宗), while announcing he would stay on in his post for the sake of political stability.

After meeting with the two officials last night, Yu said Fan was firm on his intention to resign and that Lee is stepping down for health reasons.

Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (林信義), who turned in his resignation letter on Friday, and Cabinet Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) retain their posts.

Although the Constitution does not state that the vice premier and Cabinet secretary-general must step down when the premier leaves his post, it is common practice for them to do so.

Fan and Lee's resignations follow the fiasco over the reform of the credit units of farmers' and fishermen's associations.

No successors for the two positions have been announced.

The leading candidate to succeed Fan is council vice chairman Lin Kuo-ching (林國慶).

Potential successors to Lee include Benny Hu (胡定吾), former president of China Development Industrial Bank (中華開發銀行) and currently the head of an asset management company, Lin Hua-de (林華德), president of International Securities Co Ltd (國際票卷), and Lin Tzong-yeong (林宗勇), chairman of the International Commercial Bank of China (國際商銀).

It is widely believed that the new Cabinet line-up will be announced sometime after Saturday.

Meanwhile, a source told the Taipei Times yesterday that Cabinet Deputy Secretary-General Liu Yu-shan (劉玉山) will be nominated as the vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council.

The position has been vacant since February.

The Cabinet is scheduled to hold an agricultural summit on Saturday to discuss financing and the consolidation of grassroots credit units.

The Cabinet may wait until after the Dec. 7 Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral and city council elections to make an announcement on the new positions.

At a press conference held at the Executive Yuan yesterday morning, Yu said that he decided to stay at his post because political stability is what concerns him most.

"After talking with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for almost two hours last night, I strongly felt that it's important for me to continue the job and work hand in hand with the president to maintain national stability," Yu said.

According to Yu, he had offered his resignation three times to Chen on Thursday and Friday, orally and in writing.

"As the nation's highest administrator, I feel obligated to shoulder the full responsibility for the mess surrounding the financial reform of farmers' and fishermen's credit associations," Yu said.

Yu said that he phoned Chen at around 5pm on Saturday to brief him about the march staged by about 120,000 farmers and fishermen to protest against the government's planned reform.

Chen called him back at around 8:30pm, telling him that he would like to visit him personally to talk about his resignation.

"We talked for about two hours. He told me that as the ruling party, we should keep the promises made to our electorate and take responsibility for making our nation a better place," Yu said.

with additional reporting by staff reporter Lin Miao-jung

Also see stories:
Editorial: Who wants to be a whipping boy?
Chen says nation needs Yu
Reform debacle damages credibility
This story has been viewed 2309 times.