Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday threw their support behind Premier Lin Chuan (林全), amid the Cabinet’s flagging approval ratings and criticism from the pan-green camp.
The new government has inherited a host of problems from the administration of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who has made Taiwan dependent on China, with the nation’s economy, foreign policy and national policy closely intertwined with Beijing’s, DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
These problems have made it difficult for the government to push for reform, including changes to the pension system, long-term care services, a five-day workweek, judicial reform and settlement of ill-gotten party assets, Chen said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“The road to reform is bumpy and there is pain in the process. We are here today to support Lin and his Cabinet to carry out reform,” he said.
The news conference was called after the resignation of Financial Supervisory Commission chairman Ding Kung-wha (丁克華) on Monday, sparking speculation that it was triggered by demands by some DPP lawmakers and members of the pan-green camp for the premier to step down amid criticism of his Cabinet appointments and oversight of financial institutions.
A total of 15 DPP legislators pledged their support to the premier and the Cabinet, with 10 of them attending the conference.
DPP Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) said a stable Cabinet was essential to achieve stable governance, and the public would lose confidence in the government if there were frequent Cabinet reshuffles.
The public’s increasingly unfavorable view of the Cabinet is a natural response to the government’s plans for reform, because vested interests are opposed to reforms and the public’s expectation of reform has not been fulfilled, Chen Ou-po said.
“However, the Cabinet is reformative and active, which deserves our support,” he said.
The Cabinet has brought about disruptions in initiating reforms just as a disruptive innovation revolutionizes an existing system, DPP Legislator Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清) said.
According to the polls, there are more people supporting Lin leading the Cabinet than people wanting him to be replaced, suggesting strong public expectations of reform, Cheng said.
DPP Legislator Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said the government is doing “post-disaster reconstruction” to solve problems left by the previous administration, including the settlement with former freeway toll collectors, the Mega International Commercial Bank’s (兆豐銀行) breaches of US money-laundering regulations and the fall in Chinese tourist numbers.
“These reconstruction efforts can hardly yield results in the short term, and we firmly support the Cabinet and expect it to accelerate reforms and make the results tangible to the public,” Chuang said.
Although the approval ratings of Lin and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) have fallen, 80 percent of the public support the government’s pension reform plan, according to a recent poll, suggesting that it is not the policies, but the efficiency of enforcement that the public is dissatisfied with, DPP Legislator Chiang Yung-chang (江永昌) said.
The falling ratings reflect public anxiety as a result of high expectations of the new government, Chiang said, urging the Cabinet to improve policy enforcement to restore public confidence.
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