There will be no hikes in water and electricity charges, Premier Frank Hsieh (
"I can't promise there will be no increase in water and electricity charges during my tenure, but I guarantee you there will be no hikes in utilities before the current legislative session ends, and that state-run oil refineries and power companies will not increase prices unless their private counterparts move first," he told the legislature.
The legislative session concludes on May 30.
Hsieh was responding to a question from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Yu-ting (
Wang asked Hsieh to promise that he would not allow hikes in water and electricity bills during his term. She also requested that Hsieh pledge not to increase taxes.
Hsieh said state-run firms Taipower and Taiwan Water Corp repeatedly requested an increase to water and electricity charges since he took office last month, but that he had rejected their requests.
"My theory is there shouldn't be an increase in water and electricity fees when interest rates are lower than increases in the price of consumer goods," Hsieh said.
Last year's consumer price index rose 1.9 percent, while the interest rate was 1.5 percent.
Hsieh also pledged to put his property into a trust and deliver on a promise to ensure clean and transparent government.
"We are sincere about building a clean and transparent government and are determined to make good on our promise," he said. "In addition to putting my personal property under a trust, an agency dedicated to the establishment of a clean government must be set up and the government must implement the `sunshine laws' passed by the legislature."
In addition, Hsieh promised not to appoint to the Cabinet any official found to have been diverting resources for personal gain.
Speaking on the legislature's non-binding resolution requesting that the Cabinet urge President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to initiate a "defensive referendum" in reaction to China's "Anti-Secession" Law, Hsieh indicated that there were limits to what the Cabinet could do.
"Since it is the president that has the authority to launch a `defensive referendum,' we will let the president make the decision," he said. "I believe the president will evaluate both domestic and international factors and make the best choice with the nation's utmost interest in mind."
The Referendum Law (公民投票法) states that the president can call a referendum on issues of national security in the event of a foreign threat to national sovereignty after obtaining Cabinet approval.
Hsieh agreed with KMT Legislator Lee Jih-chu's (
Instead of passively waiting for China's change of mind, Lee proposed that the government adopt a proactive approach by asking a sympathetic US to help Taiwan join ASEAN and the World Health Organization, as well as signing a free-trade agreement with the US and other countries.
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