President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday expressed his strong support and confidence in Premier Tang Fei (唐飛), saying Tang had demonstrated strong willpower and dedication to his post in the past two months.
The remarks came following an attack on Tang by one of the DPP's most senior leaders.
President Chen made his remarks at the opening ceremony of the "Joint Action Conference for the Crackdown on Black-Gold" (掃除黑金聯合行動大會), being held jointly by the Interior and Justice Ministries.
Departing from his prepared text, President Chen devoted almost half of his speech to praising Tang for his performance in leading the Cabinet.
"Take the case of the water problem in Kaohsiung," Chen said, "Premier Tang directly promised to use the government's NT$15 billion budget to improve the quality of water within three years."
"And without Tang's willpower, the special task force to investigate the murder of Navy official Yin Ching-feng (
Chen's remarks follow an attack on Tang by DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (
The president's praise for Tang also came in the midst of opposition speculation as to whether Chen authorized Wu Nai-jen to make his remarks.
The president received Tang on Tuesday night at the Presidential Office to discuss the management of day-to-day affairs during Chen's trip overseas from Aug. 13 to Aug. 26.
Acting secretary-general to the president, Chen Che-nan (
Officials from the Executive Yuan, however, revealed that Tang felt slighted because the president had not backed him publicly immediately after Wu's remarks.
Vice Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), the former secretary-general to the president, yesterday represented President Chen and Premier Tang in negotiations with DPP leaders to resolve the dispute and reduce misunderstanding.
"Measures for coordination of regular exchanges of opinion between the Executive Yuan, the Presidential Office and the DPP have gradually taken root," Chang told reporters.
"I don't think that this event [Wu's criticism] will have any negative affect."
Meanwhile, DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (
The members of the forum include five senior DPP officials: Frank Hsieh, Wu Nai-jen, Chen Che-nan, Chang Chun-hsiung and DPP legislative caucus leader Perng Shaw-jiin (彭紹瑾).
They will meet every Wednesday with a mission to "facilitate the implementation of policy."
"Following the establishment of this forum, misunderstandings and disputes between the DPP and the government will be eliminated," Hsieh said.
"To take Wu's criticism as an example," Hsieh said, "the DPP has already ordered all officials from the party's central headquarters not to make any public statements in the future."
"We should avoid any personal remarks being misunderstood as party policy," Hsieh said.
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