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Key Cabinet members under pressure

A number of Cabinet officials face pressure to step down following the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) defeat in Saturday's legislative elections. During an interview with Sanlih Television on Sunday night, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said that it would be a good idea to adjust the Cabinet lineup and replace some "controversial" officials, without naming names.

Some media outlets have speculated that Lu was referring to Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝), the ministry's Secretary-General Chuang Kuo-jung (莊國榮) and Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉).

During the legislative election campaign, Lu had blasted the ministry over its "mishandling" of the replacement of the inscription at National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall and said that Tu should be blamed for the DPP's waning popularity.

Lu also called on Tu to stop using his subordinates as his personal "shields" and "hit men." Chuang, who spearheaded the project, said he respected Lu's opinion but "those who really have the ability to self-evaluate" should demand the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) former "hit man" apologize to the public, in reference to the party's presidential hopeful, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

Also on the program, Lu asked "those who exercise verbal violence" to apologize and she criticized the GIO for doing a poor job in promoting the administration's achievements.

Lu also expressed concern about the fate of the DPP-proposed referendum on joining the UN under the name "Taiwan," which will be held concurrently with the presidential election in March.

As the referendum seeking to recover the KMT's stolen assets failed on Saturday, Lu said she was worried a failed UN referendum would deliver a heavier blow to the party.

Meanwhile, Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興), who attended the DPP's provisional Central Executive Committee yesterday, said Tu and Shieh should be held partially responsible for the party's election defeat.

Yang said Shieh was a smart man, but he should have been more dignified as Cabinet spokesman and refrain from "acting like a clown" because it might have a negative effect on the party's election results.

Shieh, who is accompanying President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on his five-day visit to Central America and the Caribbean, told reporters in Guatemala that he did not think it was appropriate to talk about who should step down at the moment.

He, however, dismissed talk that the party's defeat had something to do with him or Tu, saying that comments that he is controversial were debatable.

He said the only thing he regretted was not campaigning enough on the DPP's behalf. He encouraged the party to learn a lesson from the bitter experience and start anew.

In response to the calls for a Cabinet reshuffle, Tu said yesterday that the Cabinet would resign on Jan. 28 in line with standard practice.

Tu made the remarks at a national education conference at Li-chih Senior High School in Kaohsiung.

Additional reporting by CNA
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