Former Financial Supervisory Commission chairman Gordon Chen (陳樹) broke his silence on his resignation yesterday, saying he wasn’t suffering from occupational fatigue as Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) had said, but had “played the obedient subordinate.”?
Gordon Chen, the second minister to leave Liu’s Cabinet, announced emphatically minutes before turning the FSC helm over to successor Sean Chen (陳冲):“I was never tired of my duties.”
The comment fed media speculation about a Cabinet reshuffle.
Gordon Chen also defended six appointments an hour before his resignation last Friday, saying they were carried out in line with internal review procedures weeks beforehand, not pushed through at the last minute.
“This was the first time I have resigned from a post,”? he said.“That accounted for the lack of knowledge that I should not have made personnel appointments after offering to quit.”
He said he hoped his departure could contribute to the smooth running of the commission and boost the performance of local markets, hinting that he had been seen as a stumbling block.
Meanwhile, Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general, urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Liu to reshuffle Cabinet officials in charge of financial and cross-strait policy.
Lo said Cabinet officials who had failed to push the government’s policies and had low approval ratings should be replaced, especially those responsible for financial and cross-strait affairs.
However, she declined to say if she was referring to Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛).
Lai, a former Taiwan Solidarity Union member, has been criticized by KMT legislators since her appointment was announced.
“The reshuffle should be done as soon as possible. It is never a good thing to prolong the process,” Lo said.
KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said there was an urgent need to recruit “competent personnel” for the Cabinet given the nation’s economic difficulties.
Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄) was tight-lipped on the possibility of a reshuffle yesterday, saying only that“Cabinet officials responsible for financial policies had done a good job.”
Also See: Sean Chen takes over as head of FSC
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