Jiang said the government would use policy tools to encourage the counties and cities within a region to cooperate to promote overall development.
Minister of Finance Lee Sush- der (李述德) said the government would revise the Law Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) to ensure that each county or city, regardless of its status, obtained a bigger budget than now.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said the party welcomed the Tainan merger, but urged the government to propose an amendment to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures and the Administrative Division Law (行政區域劃分法) as soon as possible to equalize counties, cities with new municipal cities.
The party would swiftly come up with candidates and campaigns for the elections, and treat them as the first battle ahead of the 2012 presidential election, he said.
Tainan Mayor Hsu Tien-tsai (?]) said he was happy to hear about the merger, adding that it would benefit development.
As the former capital of Taiwan, Hsu said people in Tainan were prepared to make it into a beautiful old city like Kyoto.
DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德), the party’s nominee for Tainan mayor, yesterday said he was undecided whether he wanted the municipal city mayoral post. DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅), the DPP’s nominee for Tainan County commissioner said he was interested.
Former minister of foreign affairs and Presidential Office secretary-general Mark Chen (陳唐山), a DPP member who entered the Tainan County race despite the party overlooking him, said he would gauge public opinion before deciding whether to run.
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