Two members of the National Security Council (NSC) will be leaving their posts following the resignations of two of President Chen Shui-bian's (
The office issued a statement announcing that there will be changes in the council line-up, including the positions of NSC deputy secretary-generals Parris Chang (張旭成) and Tsai Ming-hsien (蔡明憲). The statement did not say when the reshuffle would be made or if Chang and Tsai would be given other posts.
The statement also said that all council members would follow Chen's example and stop campaigning for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members who are running for public office.
The announcement came on the heels of the resignations of Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng (
Ma and Lin resigned following Chen's announcement that he would curtail his responsibilities and delegate powers to Premier Su Tseng-chang (
Despite the calls for the resignation of council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (陳唐山) yesterday said that his understanding was that Chiou would stay on.
Members of the DPP's New Tide faction have demanded that Chiou resign. Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), a leader of the faction, said that Chiou, who has been criticized by the faction for being too "cooperative" with Chen, "should know when to leave."
Opposition parties have criticized Chiou for being too politically partial by campaigning for DPP members.
Meanwhile, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) dismissed reports yesterday that she had proposed to the president that he ask Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to form a government.
"The vice president regrets learning that the media made such a report. She did not make such a proposal to the president," said a statement released by the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon.
Lu was referring to a report in yesterday's China Times, which alleged that Lu had proposed to Chen in private to consider appointing Ma as the premier in a bid to resolve political gridlock.
The report also quoted sources in the KMT as saying that the president has never ruled out the possibility of inviting opposition parties to form a majority government and that he began to seriously consider the idea in the wake of recent spate of scandals implicating his close aides and in-laws.
Mark Chen said that he could not confirm the report because he personally has never heard the president make such a remark.
Commenting on the recall campaign proposed by the opposition parties, Mark Chen said that the initiative stands little chance of succeeding because President Chen has not done anything wrong. He also called on opposition parties to exercise prudence and put national interest before politics.
Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (
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