Lu defends reorganization plans

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday defended the Ministry of the Interior's proposal to reorganize the administrative status of the nation's local governments, putting them on an equal footing with the special municipalities.

"Taiwan has special municipalities, provincial municipalities and county municipalities, which is essentially a `one country, three systems,' policy. [Besides looking at the special municipalities], whether the status of provincial municipalities should even exist should also be discussed," Lu said in a speech to the Asia Pacific Planing and Management conference in Taoyuan County yesterday morning.

Lu emphasized that the proposed reorganization is not politically charged, reacting to Taipei City Government accusations that the proposal is designed to reduce the political stature of Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in the run-up to the year-end mayoral elections.

Since the effective abolition of the provincial government in 1998, all local governments, including the special municipalities of Taipei and Kaohsiung, have reported to the central government in a two-tiered executive system consisting only of central, county and city governments.

City and county governments -- formerly subordinate to the provincial government -- had voiced demands prior to the provincial government's demise for equal status with the special municipalities. Having not been granted that wish, they have since 1998 fought for financial resources, such as their shares of the Tax Redistribution Fund (統籌分配款), to be made more equal with those of the special municipalities.

The special municipalities receive their revenue from the central government.

To solve the dispute, the ministry on Wednesday held a seminar to discuss how to reform the local government system. The ministry hopes to come up with a proposal which would equalize the status of the special municipalities and local governments.

It would also cancel elections for township chiefs, village representatives and borough-wardens.

Meanwhile, the ministry on Wednesday released a draft bill entitled the Administrative District Division Law (行政區域劃分法) providing for the redrawing of local government lines and the redistribution of local government assets and finances.

Article 108 of the ROC Constitution empowers the central government to redraw local government boundaries.

Chang Yuan-hsu (張元旭), director of the Land Administration department, denied local Chinese-language media reports that it has decided to establish 30 administrative districts, saying that the ministry has not yet decided exactly how the boundaries would be redrawn.

Under the current system, Taiwan is divided into 23 local governments, including Taipei and Kaohsiung cities.

Though the ministry maintains its intent to reform the system would not downgrade the status of Taipei City or Kaohsiung City, Taipei City Government officials continued to attack the idea yesterday.

"The DPP's worries that it isn't going to be competitive enough in the [Taipei mayoral] election have prompted it to downgrade Mayor Ma's status and power," said Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), head of the KMT's Taipei City branch office.