Reaction among politicians yesterday to Premier Lin Chuan’s (林全) announcement that he is stepping down basically boiled down to speculation about who might replace him and the impact his move would have on next year’s mayoral and councilor elections.
Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) topped the rumor list as a possible successor to Lin.
Lai as premier would usher in a “fighting Cabinet” that aggressively confronts the opposition, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) lawmakers said.
Photo: Ting Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
“In the matter of Premier Lin’s resignation and his succession by Lai, the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] is absolutely thinking of the special municipality and county elections next year, and the re-election of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)” in 2020, KMT Legislator Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) said.
Lin’s Cabinet lacked assertiveness, combativeness and the ability to execute policy, which has contributed to the administration’s flagging approval ratings, she said.
“A Cabinet turnover at this juncture, and naming Lai — a politician renowned for his bulldog tenacity — would be a clear sign that Tsai intends to organize a ‘fighting Cabinet,’” Wang said.
Referring to former Tainan City Council speaker Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教), who was convicted of vote-buying, Wang said that Lai refused to set foot in the Tainan City Council when Lee was under suspicion of vote-buying.
“The next Cabinet is likely to double-down on confronting the opposition and deepen partisanship in the Legislative Yuan,” she said.
“The government’s unpopularity has put Tsai and DPP factions under a lot of stress. There have been constant rumors that Lin was on his way out, which were intended to paralyze his ability to get things done. It is not surprising a ‘deep-green’ man like Lai would come out on top,” KMT Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) said.
Lai lacks administrative experience in the central government and has little training in economic or fiscal matters, Tseng said.
“Although the Lin Cabinet was marked by economic and fiscal expertise, in the past 15 months it has failed to perform economically and to the public’s satisfaction. So long as the economy does not improve, the DPP will not recover its popularity and it will not matter whether Lai is premier,” Tseng said.
PFP Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said the presumed appointment of Lai shows the DPP is too concerned with electoral politics to care about the actual running of the government.
“If they wanted to oust the premier, they should have done it a lot sooner. It is ridiculous to replace Premier Lin right after he submitted the central government’s general budget,” Lee Hung-chun said.
However, a majority of DPP lawmakers said they were optimistic that if Lai became premier, the Cabinet would be able to facilitate cordial and efficient interactions between the executive and the legislative branches of government.
Lin’s Cabinet ministers did not communicate with lawmakers frequently, set clear policy goals or explain policy to the public, problems that Lai is better equipped to handle as a politician elected on the basis of his grassroots support, DPP Legislator Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) said.
A team headed by Lai would be more knowledgeable about policy on the ground and display a more cordial attitude in working with the legislature, Ho said, adding that Lai’s policy vision is likely to be different from that of Lin.
Lai had contemplated running for New Taipei City mayor next year to bolster his chances of a future presidential bid, a DPP “New Trend” faction lawmaker said on condition of anonymity.
However, Lai decided against it because the field is crowded with DPP politicians who have factional support, the lawmaker said.
“Lai’s alternatives are limited; to rise, he must give serious thought to this path,” the lawmaker said.
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