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Hsieh hopeful about cooperation

Premier-designate Frank Hsieh, left, yesterday shakes hands with a senior citizen who had volunteered to help clean-up a street in Kaohsiung. Both men were taking part in a ``National Cleanup Week'' event. Clean-up activities are underway in cities and towns across the country ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday next week. PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES

Premier-designate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that he will keep the post of vice premier open after he assumes office tomorrow, in order to leave room for possible reconciliation with the opposition.

"Since the DPP failed to win a majority in the legislature, I would like to leave the vice premier's post open and consult with the opposition alliance after the legislative session begins on Feb.1," he said.

"The parties are competing for the legislative speaker election on Feb.1, so relations between the parties are tense now. But after the speakership race, I hope we could achieve inter-party reconciliation and cooperation through party caucuses in the legislature," he said.

Hsieh said he did not have any particular candidate in mind, but "my deputy could be from the opposition, or a person from business or technology circles."

Asked if Deputy Legislative Speaker Chiang Pin-Kun (江丙坤) was still a candidate, Hsieh said he did not have a designated candidate, otherwise the opposition alliance would mistake him for someone who simply wanted to lure a member of the opposition into the Cabinet in order to divide it.

Hsieh had invited Chiang to serve as his deputy, but Chiang and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rejected the offer.

Hsieh said he will announce the names of the Cabinet secretary-general, director-general of the Central Personnel Administration and director-general of the Department of Health today.

Hsieh made the comments while he participated in a "National Cleaning Week" activity in Kaohsiung, where he also urged the public to clean up the environment before the Lunar New Year holiday.

Hsieh and acting Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) also cast their ballots for the DPP chairman by-election at a polling station in Kaohsiung yesterday.

Hsieh and acting DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) are considered likely candidates to run for the 2008 presidential election.

Hsieh, a former DPP chairman, said it is meaningless to compare the number of votes he received to be chairman with Su's because the party is twice as big as it was when he ran for the job. However, since Su is the only candidate, turnout might be low, he said.

Hsieh said he totally supports Su and the party because "when the party is strong, the government is strong too."
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