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MORAKOT: THE AFTERMATH: KMT lawmakers take aim at premier

Workers from the Kaohsiung County Government’s Bureau of Social Affairs issue compensation to victims of Typhoon Morakot yesterday at a temple in Jiaxian Township. PHOTO: CNA

The political storm surrounding Typhoon Morakot relief efforts showed no sign of abating yesterday, as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers singled out Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) for neglecting his duties while southern Taiwan was suffering under Morakot’s onslaught.

KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) said Liu spent Father’s Day on Aug. 8 in Hsinchu even though he knew about the serious flooding in southern Taiwan.

“When Premier Liu traveled to the Central Emergency Operation Center [CEOC] with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at 3pm [on Aug 8], he must have learned of the typhoon’s serious impact on southern Taiwan,” Chiu told reporters at the legislature.

“Yet he spent the whole night [celebrating] Father’s Day in Hsinchu and did not return to the center the next day,” Chiu said.

Chiu alleged Liu’s close aide tried to conceal the truth when the lawmaker confronted him, and he demanded Ma immediately replace Liu for failing to take command of the CEOC while the typhoon was pounding the nation.

Soldiers help clear a road in Linbian, Pingtung County, by scraping mud from houses and piling sand bags on the river bank. PHOTO: AFP/MILITARY NEWS AGENCY

KMT Legislator Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) said replacing Liu was the only way to save Ma’s approval ratings from dropping further.

“Only by removing Liu Chao-shiuan can Ma Ying-jeou show that he will shoulder all responsibility,” Wu said.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus also urged Ma yesterday to replace Liu before the fall legislative session begins on Sept. 18.

Executive Yuan Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓), however, said Chiu’s allegations were “unfair.”

Liu was at the CEOC during the afternoon on Father’s Day and was monitoring the situation, Su said, adding that Liu continued to talk to officials involved in the rescue efforts by telephone after he went home.

Su said that Liu traveled to Kaohsiung County the next morning to inspect the disaster zone instead of returning to the CEOC.

Top Cabinet officials came under fire for spending time on personal business instead of disaster relief work the weekend Morakot hit and the following days.

Liu was slammed for getting a haircut after a trip to inspect several disaster-hit areas on Aug. 11, while Executive Yuan Secretary-General Hsueh Hsiang-chuan (薛香川) was criticized for attending a Father’s Day dinner at a five-star Taipei hotel on Aug. 8.

Hsueh tendered his resignation on Wednesday, as did Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) over the government’s rescue efforts.

Water Resources Agency Director General Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) confirmed yesterday that he had submitted his resignation to Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) three or four days ago.

Chen said that while he and his team have been working hard since Morakot struck, he was willing to take full responsibility for public criticism.

He also said the agency would examine its efforts and make the necessary improvements.

Yiin has yet to approve Chen Shen-hsien’s resignation.

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) national policy adviser Lin Huo-wang (林火旺) offered his resignation yesterday after he slammed the Cabinet’s slow response to Morakot, describing it as a “cold-blooded government.”

During a TVBS’ political talk show, 2100 Public Talk, on Monday, Lin said Liu had gone to have his hair dyed on Aug. 11 and that Hsueh had attended a Father’s Day dinner.

NO PRESSURE

Lin denied he had resigned under pressure from the Presidential Office but acknowledged that he had been rapped for tarnishing the administration’s image.

Lin said he was a national adviser to the president, not an adviser to the KMT.

“If a government’s behavior is not in the interest of its people, why should the people not criticize it?” Lin told reporters yesterday.

Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the office respected Lin’s decision to resign from his unpaid post.

Meanwhile, a poll released by Global Views (遠見雜誌) magazine yesterday showed more than 78 percent of respondents said the administration had done a poor job in handling the typhoon, and a majority said a Cabinet reshuffle was necessary.

The poll by the Global Views Survey Research Center found that 78.2 percent of the respondents gave the administration’s crisis management ability a failing grade, with 42.8 percent saying Liu must be replaced, while 58.2 percent said a reshuffle was needed, a 12.4 percent increase compared with a similar poll last September.

UNPOPULAR

Ma’s popularity fell to 22.9 percent, which the pollster said signified a loss of 1.33 million of those who voted for him in last year’s presidential election.

The premier’s popularity dropped to 18.8 percent, while the Cabinet’s approval rating fell to 16.7 percent, both all-time lows since the KMT returned to power last year.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN AND CNA

Also See: EDITORIAL: Ma has China in mind, not Taiwan
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