Legislators react to reshuffle of president's aides

"I consider the personnel adjustment both simple and appropriate. Politically astute and flexible, Chiou will form a better link between the Presidential Office and other branches of government."

DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui

The latest government reshuffle drew mixed reactions yesterday, with DPP lawmakers seeking to downplay its political implications and their opposition counterparts welcoming the change of top presidential aides.

Four-term DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) said there is no election-directed motive behind the administration's personnel reshuffle, which he noted stemmed from the replacement of outgoing presidential secretary-general Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟).

Straightforward uncompromising, Chen has never masked his distaste for the circus style of legislative culture.

During his stint as chief of staff of the Presidential Office, he repeatedly refused to attend legislative committee meetings. The few times he showed up, the scholar-turned-politician did not shy away from challenges over his hardline support for Taiwan independence.

Opposition had called on President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to sack Chen Shih-meng, saying he was unfit to be presidential secretary-general.

On Tuesday, the Presidential Office announced National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) would replace Chen Shih-meng, who would take the helm of the DPP's Ketagalan Academy (凱達格蘭學院).

"I consider the personnel adjustment both simple and appropriate," Lin said. "Politically astute and flexible, Chiou will form a better link between the Presidential Office and other branches of government."

After changing his top aide, the president had to find someone to fill the vacancy left open by Chiou, Lin said, painting Vice Minister of National Defense Kang Ning-hsiang (康寧祥) as an obvious choice in light of his grasp of national security.

Kang's will in turn be taken over by Senior National Security Adviser Lin Chong-Pin (林中斌).

DPP Lawrence Gao (高志鵬) said it is about time the president picked a head for the Ketagalan Academy. The school, intended to train party cadets for administration posts, is expected to open after the Lunar New Year.

But opposition legislators insisted that President Chen has set his re-election campaign in motion with the newest shuffle of key officials.

Incoming PFP legislative leader Chiu Yi (邱毅) said that by tapping Lin Chong-Pin as vice defense minister, the president hopes to woo US support for his second term in 2004.

Chiu the US plays a key role in preserving cross-strait peace and that Washington has voiced reservations about Kang's leadership in the military. He observed that Lin, on the other hand, enjoys cozy ties with many US officials and scholars.

Independent Sisy Chen (陳文茜) said the appointment of Chiou as presidential secretary-general will help stabilize the Chen administration, which tends to be reckless and hyperactive.

A cool-headed, precise analyzer of domestic politics, Chiou in 2000 effectively boosted the DPP presidential campaign by advising it to befriend then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Nobel chemist Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), she pointed out.

Like other DPP strategists, however, Chiou assigns inadequate weight to public policies when formulating campaign plans, the independent lawmaker added.

KMT leader Cheng Feng-shih (鄭逢時) said the personnel shuffle may not save the administration from being voted down if it fails to turn the economy around by 2004.

But Cheng praised the removal of Chen Shih-meng, who he and fellow colleagues criticized as a hindrance to the DPP govern-ment.