Chen says nation needs Yu

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday expressed his appreciation to Yu Shyi-kun for deciding to stay on as premier, saying that he hoped Yu would reform the financial sector and revive the country's economy.

"We need Premier Yu to stay at his post and lead the government in its endeavors to complete all the reforms," Chen said after visiting Yu's mother, Huang Hsiu-chu (黃秀菊), who is being treated at National Taiwan University Hospital.

A source at the Presidential Office told reporters that the president's confidence in Yu remained unchanged, as demonstrated by the show of unity at the hospital.

"Criticism from opposition politicians recently will not have any impact on the president's trust in Premier Yu," the source said, "and President Chen will give his full support as usual to allow Yu to implement a small-scale Cabinet reshuffle."

The source added that the president and premier have also reached a consensus on improving the efficiency of the civil service system and reorganizing the country's grassroots credit departments.

"After winning power in 2000, we have been very careful in arranging the government's personnel," the source said. "President Chen nominated the premier and jointly organized the Cabinet but rarely put DPP members in high-ranking official positions. Instead, these positions were filled with officials from the civil service system."

He said that Chen wanted to avoid being accused of "rewarding the party with government re-sources" but that the opposition parties still attacked the DPP for the government's performance during the past two-and-a-half years.

"Therefore, since the farmers and fishermen expressed their strong feelings to the government, President Chen decided to authorize Premier Yu to reform the whole civil service system, despite any possible accusations about political rewards," he said.

Though Yu's decision to stay on as premier seems to have saved Chen from a political crisis, many senior DPP leaders expressed their doubts about Chen's leadership and credibility.

"The failure of the Cabinet's financial reforms of grassroots credit departments should be mainly attributed to President Chen's one-man decision-making style," said Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅), leader of the DPP's Welfare State faction.

"The party's Central Standing Committee members have lost their ability to offer suggestions to President Chen [who is also DPP chairman] and failed to coordinate the Cabinet and grassroots power," Lee said.

DPP caucus leader Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) urged the president to consider setting up a crisis-management mechanism, which would include a task force to help the president evaluate crucial policy alternatives.

The DPP's New Tide faction, the party's largest, appealed to Chen to "seriously review the cooperation model with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝)," saying that Chen's administration should walk its own way instead of continually allowing the former head of state to manipulate the government.

"President Chen needs to draw a line between the DPP government and Lee," DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) said. "Premier Yu should also stop listening to Lee's instructions."

What party can't forget is that it was Lee who first raised the public's anger by accusing the government of trying to eliminate the farmers and fishermen, he said, but then Lee attacked Chen's administration for knowing nothing but how to run election campaigns.

However, other party leaders warned against inflaming conflict in the "Bian-Lee relationship," saying more debate on the issue would only help opposition politicians further undermine the harmony between the ruling DPP and the TSU, over which Lee has a great deal of influence.