Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) vowed yesterday to remove retired officials who have received double pay for serving as representatives of government shareholdings at state-funded organizations.
During a question-and-answer session with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福), Wu dismissed a report by the legislature’s Budget Center that said 44 retired senior officials and military personnel had “fat cat” positions at government-funded businesses or organizations.
The recent report questioned the appropriateness of the officials receiving salaries from businesses or organizations given that they also enjoy a monthly pension at the preferential savings interest rate of 18 percent.
Among the retired officials named by the Budget Center were Financial Information Service Co (FISC, 財金資訊公司) chairwoman Chao Yang-ching (趙揚清), previously chairwoman of the Executive Yuan’s Fair Trade Commission, FISC general manager Li Wan-yi (黎萬益), previously deputy director of the Ministry of Finance’s (MOF) Financial Data Center, and Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行) chairman Liu Teng-cheng (劉燈城), a former vice minister of finance.
Wu said the majority of retired officials were not “fat cats” because after retirement they served as board members at private businesses in which the government had investments, adding that their salaries fell into a “gray area.”
However, if they entered state-run businesses after retirement, they could only receive one salary, Wu said, adding that the government would immediately launch a probe into payments given to such persons.
“We will immediately remove those who receive double pay,” Wu said.
Earlier yesterday, the KMT caucus urged the Examination Yuan to amend laws to force retired officials to choose between their monthly pension or their salary.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) told a press conference that many were appointed as board members at government-funded businesses or organizations as a kind of political reward. He did not present evidence to back his claim.
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