Pingtung County Commissioner Su Chia-chuan (
"Due to his extensive political experience, the premier thought Commissioner Su was the best person to fill the vacancy," Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
Su served as a lawmaker between 1993 and 1997, and is serving his second four-year term as Pingtung County commissioner.
PHOTO: WEI BIN, TAIPEI TIMES
Yu Cheng-hsien tendered his resignation on Sunday over the election-eve shooting of President Chen Shui-bian (
According to Lin, both the premier and the president highly appreciated Su's performance over the years and were confident that he would do a good job.
Earlier yesterday morning, Lin told a press conference that the premier would not announce the new minister by May 12, when the premier leads Cabinet officials, including the new interior minister, to resign en masse in accordance with the Constitution that the Cabinet must vacate its posts before the inauguration of the new president. Chen will be sworn in for his second four-year term on May 20.
"Respecting Minister Yu's personal wishes and acknowledging his courage to shoulder the political onus, the premier approved the minister's resignation on the evening of Sunday and is looking for his successor," Lin told the press conference held at the Cabinet yesterday morning.
Lin said that the premier hoped Yu Cheng-hsien would stand fast at his post until the new minister is found.
Yu Cheng-hsien, who was originally scheduled to hold a press conference yesterday morning to officially announce his resignation, decided to take a five-day vacation starting yesterday and ask his secretary to read an announcement.
In the statement, Yu Cheng-hsien said that he offered his resignation verbally on March 19, the day of the attempted assassination, in an effort to assume political responsibility.
He was persuaded by the premier to stay on because of the upcoming presidential election. He then tendered his resignation in writing on Sunday.
Before the dust settled, other possible leading candidates to succeed Yu Cheng-hsien included Minister without Portfolio Yeh Jiunn-rong (
When asked by reporters about his intent to take up the post yesterday, Yeh Jiunn-rong said that it was inappropriate for him to make any comment before the premier approaches him about the matter. He, however, added that he would accept the premier's personnel arrangement.
A Cabinet official who asked not to be named said that it did not sound like a bad idea to have a female interior minister since Chen has vowed on various occasions to see more high-ranking female government officials.
Meanwhile, the National Police Administration (NPA) confirmed yesterday that NPA Director-General Chang Si-liang (
As for who will succeed Chang, Lin said that the question is up to the new minister to decide.
According to the press release made available by the NPA, Chang offered his resignation verbally to his direct supervisor Yu Cheng-hsien on the day of the shooting. He agreed to stay on because of the presidential election and the subsequent mass protests. He told lawmakers and reporters on Sunday that he would submit his resignation yesterday morning to take full responsibility for the assassination attempt.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
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