Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (
After a talk with the premier at the Tri-Service General Hospital, Tang made the dramatic move of withdrawing his resignation.
He changed his mind less than two hours after Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Huang Suei-sheng (
The announcement was made at a press conference that the ministry called at 4:00pm yesterday, without letting the press know in advance what it was about.
Huang read out a statement by Tang at the press conference, but refused to comment on whether Tang's resignation might be politically driven.
"As the presidential elections have been completed, I sincerely hope that political disputes in the country could be satisfactorily resolved and that social order could soon be restored," Huang quoted Tang as saying.
"Because of long-term eye diseases and old age, I do not think myself capable of handling the ministerial position. I have expressed my wish to resign to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Premier Yu before the presidential elections. Now I have turned in my resignation request on Sunday," Tang was quoted as saying.
Tang did not give any indication in the statement that his resignation might have any political motives behind it.
Huang also denied the possibility, saying Tang was asking to leave mainly for health reasons.
Before the election, Tang had been inspecting troops nationwide, including those on the outlying islands, without showing any sign that he was suffering from physical discomfort.
During his inspection tour, Tang proposed that the armed forces be allowed to exercise absentee votes in future. He said that quite a number of military personnel might otherwise not be able to vote in elections.
It was not the first time that Tang expressed a wish to step down. Early last year, Tang said he wanted to resign so that a civilian could be appointed as defense minister.
According to the National Defense Act (國防法), which was enacted two years ago, the defense minister should be a civilian.
It was also not the first time that Tang made an important gesture during a presidential election. In the 2000 presidential election, Tang used a pre-recorded video which was aired on all television channels after the election to swear loyalty to whichever candidate won. Tang, then chief of the general staff, was severely criticized for the move, which was considered to be unnecessary in a democratic society.
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