Legislators across party lines continued to lambast Central Personnel Administration Minister Chen Ching-hsiou (陳清秀) yesterday over his recent public gaffes, urging Research, Development and Evaluation Committee Minister Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) to establish a policy for disciplining Cabinet members who habitually embarrass the government.
Chen got himself in hot water last week when he used the analogy of “stripping someone of their clothes” if officials were required to give full disclosure of their financial history and status. He also came under fire after advocating a pay raise for all political appointees as a way to boost job performance and raise work ethics.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Gao Jhy-peng (高志鵬) panned Chen’s suggestion yesterday, saying that Chen was either insinuating political appointees were underpaid or indirectly encouraging the officials to accept bribes or take on a part-time job.
“A master’s program graduate on average earns NT$25,000 a month, that is if he is lucky enough to get a job. What do you think these graduate think when they hear your proposal to increase the salary of officials who get at least NT$100,000 a month?” Gao asked.
Chen smiled and, without offering an apology, promised he would be more careful about what he said in public in the future, but argued that he was merely making a point about the wages of Taiwanese officials compared with those of their foreign counterparts, such as in Singapore.
Saying that Chen’s string of gaffes had become “chronic” in the recent months, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) warned Chen that he would become a burden to Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) if he refused to change his behavior.
On Monday, Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) said the military would consider taking “kitchen waste” to disadvantaged families living near military bases. His remarks drew immediate criticism and he was slammed for being prejudicial and insensitive.
The minister apologized the next day and said he meant to say “leftover food.”
On the same day, Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Chang Jen-hsiang (章仁香) apologized for a translation error in a guidebook produced by the National Museum of Prehistory that said facial tattoos used by Aborigines symbolized “adultery,” when the word should have been “adulthood.”
Chiu and Gao urged Jiang to set up a policy that better restrained Cabinet members from making so many public gaffes.
Jiang, in response, said it was the premier’s job to monitor Cabinet members’ speeches and conduct, “because he was one who invited them to join the Cabinet.”
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