Vice Premier Sean Chen is widely expected to be named premier by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) before Feb. 17, the date when the premier is to present his policy address before the new legislature, sources said yesterday.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), the vice president-elect, will lead his Cabinet in resigning en masse before the swearing-in of the Eighth Legislature on Feb. 1 in a gesture of respect for the new legislature, sources said.
Since a constitutional amendment in 1997 took away the legislature’s power to confirm the president’s appointment of the premier, the Cabinet is no longer compelled to resign after a legislative election.
“Because the 1997 amendment has given the president the power to appoint a premier without legislative confirmation, the [Cabinet’s] resignation before Feb. 1, if it takes place, would just be a formality,” Wu said.
Wu said he hoped he could take some time off before the presidential inauguration on May 20, adding that “there’s no chance of me staying put as premier until May 19.”
The new legislature is set to take its oath of office on Feb. 1 and vote for a new speaker and vice speaker that day. The new legislative session is tentatively set to start on Feb. 17, when the premier will present his policy address.
Sources said that some Cabinet members might be replaced in the first stage of a reshuffle together with Chen stepping in as premier. The reshuffle will be completed before May 19 in line with the restructuring of the Executive Yuan, which will go into effect on May 20.
Under a restructuring plan aimed at streamlining policy implementation based on the Organic Law of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法), which was amended a year ago, the number of Cabinet-level agencies will be reduced from 37 to 29.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday proposed calling an extra session on Friday to review organic laws that need to be revised in line with changes resulting from the government restructuring.
As of Dec. 14, when the legislature went into recess earlier than the statutory end date of Dec. 31, a total of 33 organic laws covering 12 agencies cleared the legislature, but 101 amendments to organic laws pertaining to 17 agencies are still pending approval.
KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday urged opposition lawmakers to support the initiative to “ensure stability in government operations.”
“The amendments to the 101 organic laws are not controversial. If they are not passed by the [end of the Seventh] Legislature, they will have to go through the whole legislative process again under the new legislature,” she said. “I’m worried that some new lawmakers who might not be aware of the urgency of the matter might cause a delay in the passage of the bills.”
However, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opposed the idea.
“We strongly question the necessity and legitimacy for the extraordinary session and we oppose it,” DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said.
The amended Organic Law of the Executive Yuan is to be implemented in two phases, so there is no time pressure to pass the remaining part of the law during the current session, which will end in two weeks, Tsai said.
“With the new legislators scheduled to be sworn in on Feb. 1, holding an extra session at this time would be disrespectful to them — in particular to legislators from the People First Party [PFP] and the Taiwan Solidarity Union [TSU],” he said.
The PFP and the TSU passed the 5 percent threshold for party votes in the legislative elections on Saturday, which means they can each establish a caucus when the new legislature convenes.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang
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