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Experts doubt Cabinet reorganization proposals

While President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has called for the speedy passage of the government’s restructuring bills during this legislative session, amendments to the law governing the Cabinet’s organization were criticized by some experts during a public hearing yesterday.

The Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee held a hearing on the Organic Act of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法) as requested by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC) Minister Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said the commission planned to set the number of civil servants in the central government at 173,000 for now and hoped to cut it by 7,000 or 8,000.

The commission also proposed to reduce the Executive Yuan’s subordinate agencies from 37 to 29 — 13 ministries, nine commissions, three independent agencies and four subordinate bodies.

Jay Shih (施能傑), a professor of public administration at National Chengchi University and former RDEC chief, criticized the amendments proposed by the RDEC as an “unreasonable regression.” The logic behind the proposal “violated the fundamentals of government reorganization” and the regulations stipulated in the Organic Standard Act of Central Government Agencies (中央行政機關組織基準法), he said.

“If passed, the government is unlikely to be more efficient,” he said.

Shih said the ministries should be kept at around 15 and that the commissions’ main function is to integrate and negotiate, not to carry out policies. The RDEC’s version, however, mixed up the functions of ministries and commissions, making the 13 ministries and nine commissions do the jobs of 22 ministries, he said.

While the power of the premier’s office should be strengthened, Shih said, the RDEC proposed establishing an accounting department and a personnel department, weakening the authority of the Executive Yuan.

The number of agencies targeted at specific groups should be as few as possible, but the RDEC’s proposal was just the opposite, Shih said. If overseas compatriots and retired soldiers can have a commission of their own, Shih said, would it also make sense to establish commissions for the elderly, youth or social groups?

Shih also said that independent agencies were vaguely defined and the amendments were designed to evade legislative supervision by empowering the Executive Yuan to establish more subsidiary agencies with administrative decrees.

A law professor at National Taiwan University and former RDEC chief Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) urged both the governing and opposition parties to show their sincerity for the government restructuring project with concrete actions rather than lip service.

Yeh said he thought 13 ministries was a good number but he was disappointed that the functions of the premier’s office and commissions were crippled. He also thought the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission should be merged with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Veterans Affairs Commissions should be integrated into the Ministry of National Defense.
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