Cabinet approves decentralization draft

The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the draft amendments to the Law on Local Government Systems (地方制度法), which would help streamline the government and establish a two-tiered government system.

As the Cabinet plans to launch its downsizing plan in May 2004, it hopes the local government system law will go into effect in 2006. The bill will proceed to the Legislative Yuan for further review and final approval.

Cabinet Spokesman Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢) said at the press conference, held after the weekly closed-door Cabinet affairs meeting yesterday, that it is important to adjust the government's structure as time goes on.

"Facing fierce competition brought on by globalization, both the central and local governments have to respond positively," Chuang quoted Premier Yu Shyi-kun as saying.

Yu said that, because the central and local governments should work as partners, the central government plans to decentralize and give more power to local governments.

"Our ultimate goal is to establish a stable and powerful two-tiered government system," he said.

The Constitution stipulates that the two special municipalities, Taipei and Kaohsiung cities, are one level higher than county and city governments, making the current arrangement a three-level system.

Yu also praised the draft amendments as a way of lowering social costs because it will reduce the number of local elections.

Under the draft bill, regional elections of city mayors, township administrators and village wardens would be abolished and the positions would be filled by appointment beginning in 2006.

City mayors, township administrators and village wardens would need to be career civil servants in order to qualify for such appointments, which would be made by county commissioners, but Aboriginal village wardens would be exempt from the regulations

County governments would be held responsible for taking care of the property, debts and taxation of the cities, townships and villages under their jurisdiction.

In addition, the draft bill stipulates that the appointment of certain top officials of counties, cities and special municipalities would require the nomination of the central government and approval by local governments.

These officials will be those who are in charge of accounting, personnel, law enforcement and ethics.

When asked why the draft does not deal with the issue of special municipalities, Minister without Portfolio Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), who was in charge of reviewing the proposal presented by the Ministry of the Interior, said that the reform of local government systems is a complicated issue and needs to be addressed carefully, stage by stage.

"After we deal with the easier tasks, such as structuring regional elections, we'll tackle the more complicated issues -- such as raising the status of counties and cities and redrawing administrative zones ," he said.

Yeh added that both a resolution made at the Economic Development Advisory Conference (經發會) held last year and a consensus reached by the National Development Conference (國發會) in 1996, recommended abolishing the regional elections of city mayors, township administrators and village wardens.

The central government's plan to put the administrative status of local governments on par with that of the special municipalities has been criticized by the pan-blue camp.