President Chen Shui-bian (
Since he took office, the president has repeatedly criticized civil servants for their foot-dragging in implementing his government's policies.
Yesterday's remarks reflect his view that too many civil servants remain unprepared "to provide active assistance to solve people's problems.
"Public servants should not use regulations as excuses to prevent the public from getting what they need," Chen said.
"On the contrary, regulations or laws that are not effective, should be amended immediately."
"To abide by the law is just the minimum required of civil servants. It should be understood that the enforcement of laws is aimed at assisting people, not obstructing or rejecting them," he said.
Chen made the comments while meeting with a group of civil servants being honored for their service to the public.
While visiting high-tech industries on Wednesday, he blamed local environmental officials for using regulations to hinder business development.
His latest comments were another indication of his dissatisfaction with the lack of improvement in government efficiency since he took office.
Chen said yesterday that all public officials should realize that the government's sole reason for being is in the word "service."
"If regulations or laws create problems," Chen said, "then the regulations or laws must be outdated."
"It takes time to revise regulations, however, and therefore public servants have to exercise wisdom and flexibly deal with people's needs."
Chen's remarks are also a reaction to opponents of policies ideas called for by the Economic Development Advisory Conference (EDAC).
The EDAC panel's suggestion Wednesday to lower the minimum wage prompted a public outcry and questions as to why the salaries of public servants, who, unlike many others, already take two days off per week, were not to be cut a well.
While Chen was Taipei City mayor, one of his most highly praised achievements was the reform of the city bureaucracy. Almost every day, starting at 8am, he toured different city departments to check on attendance. He demanded the elimination of red tape and a lowering of the height of counters so that citizens could clearly see what public employees were doing.
These measures improved government efficiency and the notoriously poor work attitude of public servants, and won high approval rates in various opinion polls.
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