A national mourning ceremony for those who perished in Typhoon Morakot will be held at the Kaohsiung Arena tomorrow.
Attending the ceremony will be President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) and the heads of five government branches, government agencies and local governments.
Typhoon Morakot, which battered Taiwan last month, triggered the most serious flooding and landslides in Taiwan in half a century. Hundreds of people died, dozens more are still missing and the nation’s agricultural sector suffered more than NT$15 billion (US$456.7 million) in losses.
Ma is to lay a wreath and express his condolences to the families of the dead during the ceremony.
The ceremony’s host will express appreciation to foreign governments, military servicemen, private groups and volunteers from all walks of life who have taken part in the rescue and relief operations in the wake of the typhoon.
Aboriginal singer Kimbo, Taitung County’s Jialan Elementary School, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Taiwan National Choir will perform in a memorial ensemble to console the survivors and encourage them to go on with their lives.
The Public Television Station will provide live broadcast of the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and 12 senior Cabinet members returned to Taipei last night after being in the south since Aug. 26 coordinating post-Morakot relief and rehabilitation efforts.
Liu returned to Taipei to handle what he said would be a “modest” Cabinet reshuffle, which is expected to be announced this week.
A source at the Cabinet said Liu preferred keeping Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄), on whom Liu relies heavily for advice on the economy, while Minister Without Portfolio Tsai Tsun-hsiung (蔡勳雄) was likely to replace Hsueh Hsiang-chuan (薛香川) as secretary-general of the Executive Yuan.
If Liu was unable to find candidates, he could ask Tsai to take over Hsueh’s position, the source said. The post of Executive Yuan secretary-general calls for communication with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, whom the source said had grave reservations about Hsueh.
Ma announced a Cabinet reshuffle on Aug. 17 to stem public discontent with the government’s performance in disaster relief. Ma’s remarks were followed by Liu’s promise two days later that the Cabinet overhaul would be “large-scale and comprehensive.”
On Tuesday, Liu said the reshuffle “will be just a little bigger than small-scale.”
Hsueh, Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Hsia (夏立言) have all offered to resign, while Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) and Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) both expressed their willingness to step down.
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