The Cabinet is expected to resign tomorrow, while the newly assigned premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) is scheduled to take the oath of office next Monday.
"A total of 87 Cabinet members will resign on Wednesday," Cabinet spokeswoman Chen Mei-ling (
After Chang takes oath, Chen said the new premier will reconsider or resubmit some proposals to the legislature for approval, including that on the minimum wage.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"Some proposals, such as the annual budget for the Cabinet, will be done deals and will not be changed, as most of them are pending in the legislature," Chen said. "But on issues like the minimum wage, [outgoing premier Su Tseng-chang (
As for a potential Cabinet reshuffle, Chen said she had yet to receive any information on the matter.
"The new premier was announced by the president this morning. I think even the new premier himself has yet to think about [a reshuffle] or make any decisions at this moment," Chen said. "I think new Cabinet nominees will be announced when the new premier begins work next Monday."
The new Cabinet will be comprised of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members as it prepares for the "battle" in next year's presidential election, the DPP caucus said yesterday.
"Judging from his selection of [Presidential Secretary-General] Chiou I-jen (
"President Chen is the commander in chief of our presidential campaign," Wang said while answering inquiries about the possibility that Chen had appointed Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) to the premiership to show he "was not a lame duck."
"But I am sure that the promise he made not to focus government authority on himself remains unchanged," he said.
DPP Legislator Huang Chien-hui (
Chang could promote harmony between party factions because he is an experienced lawmaker, Huang said, adding that Chang also has the ability and experience necessary to manage an election campaign on a national scale.
"President Chen is eager to make some breakthroughs in diplomacy and on cross-strait relations during the last year of his term ... the appointment of Joseph Wu (
The identity of the new Cabinet members was also the focus of media attention yesterday.
Asked for comment at the DPP headquarters, Chang said his goal was to "put the right person in the right position," dismissing media concerns that party factions would be a determining factor in his decisions.
At a different venue, Huang dismissed media speculation that former Council of Labor Affairs chairman Lee Ying-yuan (
Meanwhile, DPP legislators were divided on the scale of the reshuffle yesterday.
DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (
DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), who is also close to Hsieh, said new Cabinet officials should be chosen for their ability to contribute to government policies and the continuity of the pro-localization administration.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"During a telephone conversation this morning, Chiou told me that the new Cabinet wished to negotiate with the legislature about the budget and the Organic Law of the Central Election Commission [CEC,
The standoff over the CEC bill, which would see the election body reorganized and give the pan-blue camp a majority, has resulted in the stalling of three budget requests for this fiscal year.
The three budget requests refer to the NT$1.6 trillion (US$ 47.9 billion) government budget, the NT$ 3.3 trillion budget for state-owned enterprises and government nonprofits funds and the NT$ 77.3 billion special budget for public construction projects.
"I hope the new Cabinet will set partisanship aside and handle the CEC bill rationally and impartially when it is negotiated at the legislature," Wang said.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus whip Hsu Shao-ping (
"There is only one year left. There is no doubt that Chang is the leading caretaker of the Cabinet. We hope he will improve communication with the opposition," Hsu said.
People First Party (PFP) legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) said yesterday he would continue to try to convince his party of the necessity of toppling the Chang Cabinet.
Hsu said the KMT was not considering coming out in favor of Fu's plan, adding that the party was willing to give Chang a "probation period."
Given the fact that one-third of seats in the legislature is required for a vote of no-confidence against the Cabinet to be proposed, the PFP, which controls 21 of the 217 seats, would be unable to launch the motion without the help of the KMT.
The donation of offshore patrol vessel Kinmen to the Philippines includes provisions that protect Taiwanese fishers and facilitate security cooperation across the First Island Chain, officials said yesterday. The comment was made during the Cabinet’s comprehensive administrative report at the legislature after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) expressed concerns about the decision to give a ship to a country whose coast guard had in 2013 fired on a Taiwanese trawler and killed its captain without provocation. The Cabinet should lay out the safeguards that have been established to prevent the Philippine government from using the Kinmen to harass, expel
GROWING TIES: The CGA is planning a goodwill mission to the Philippines, in what would be the first time since 1975 a Taiwanese paramilitary vessel has visited the country The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) plans to significantly expand its participation in international security cooperative frameworks and its operational capabilities, a budget proposal for next year showed. The budget indicates a transformation of the CGA from a maritime law enforcement arm into a national defense and intelligence gathering entity capable of tackling larger regional security matters. The proposal showed that personnel from the coast guard’s Intelligence Division and Special Action Support Center are to participate in high-level national security talks with the US. As the CGA has dealt with China’s rising “gray zone” threats around Taiwan, it has become a valuable asset to
A patrol vessel donated by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) to the Philippines was commissioned into the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday, a Philippine non-governmental organization said. The CGA on Sept. 16 confirmed media reports that Taiwan had donated a retired 500-tonne patrol vessel to the Philippines. The Manila-based We Protect Our Seas (WPS) foundation, which served as an intermediary in the transfer, said that the vessel was formerly the CGA’s 500-tonne petrol vessel Kinmen (CG123). The WPS, in a statement issued on Friday, said the vessel, renamed as the BRP Sarangani, had been commissioned into the PCG the
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: Beijing sent two China Coast Guard vessels to escort a ‘supposedly private research ship,’ a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman said The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday confirmed that it had recently deployed three patrol vessels to waters in Taiwan’s overlapping exclusive economic zone with the Philippines to monitor three Chinese vessels. CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said the agency regularly monitors Chinese vessels around Taiwan, and that the deployment south of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, was carried out in accordance with standard procedures. He added that the waters fall within the overlapping exclusive economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines, which extend 200 nautical miles (370km) from their coastlines. Hsieh made the comments when asked about a
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