Resignation expected to spark turmoil

Though hardly surprising, the resignation of Premier Tang Fei (唐飛) yesterday is likely to trigger another political storm, lawmakers predicated yesterday.

The central government's budget bill for fiscal 2001 -- which has just been submitted to the legislature by Tang's Cabinet -- is now facing a possible suspension until the next premier is appointed.

Hong Yuh-chin (洪玉欽), whip of the majority KMT legislative caucus, criticized the DPP for kicking Tang aside after the premier had outlived his purpose.

"The DPP's decision to let Tang step down is like `burning the bridge after crossing it,'" Hong said. "The DPP should not have forced him to leave just because of differences over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project."

Hong said Tang's resignation was a sign that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) "government for all the people" was crumbling, and that the DPP should take full responsibility for the political instability expected to follow.

If the Cabinet is reshuffled, Hong said, the budget bill may have to go through another draft. If that's the case, it may have problems passing the legislature by the end of next month.

Chen Chen-sheng (陳振盛), convener of the People First Party caucus, said that Tang's resignation was a sad occasion.

He said the incident showed that the president was reluctant to accept differing opinions.

"Taiwan will have to face political instability, collapse of the economy and a lack of confidence in Taiwan's policies by the international community," Chen warned.

Perng Shaw-jiin (彭紹瑾), chief executive of the DPP caucus in the legislature, said that Tang's resignation was "not a surprise" since the premier said he wanted to step down on several earlier occasions.

"If his [Tang's] ideals are in consistent with President Chen's, it is meaningless for him to stay," Perng said.

Expecting strong reaction from opposition parties against the incident, Perng said his caucus would try to negotiate with opposition legislators to see if it was possible to let Vice Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) stand in for the premiership temporarily so that the budget bill's review would not be affected.

Chang was tipped by officials in the Presidential Office last night to be the next premier.

If the plan is rejected, the review would have to be delayed until another version is submitted by the next premier, the DPP's chief executive said.

Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said the legislature would meet immediately to discuss measures to deal with the budget bill.

Though Tang had cited his poor health condition as the reason for stepping down, the differences between Tang and the president over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project was widely believed to be the true cause behind Tang's decision.

Just hours before Tang's resignation was confirmed, he reaffirmed his support for the project.

Tang told the legislature that it was politically unwise to exacerbate the ongoing nuclear dispute without regard to the country's sustainable development.

"In the face of inclement challenges including -- industrial development and international competition -- I wonder where our political wisdom is if we add fire to the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant issue," Tang said yesterday at an interpellation session in the legislature earlier in the day.

Tang said the issue was not only a political one, but it also involved social and economic dimensions and should be looked at from a long-term point of view.