National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairperson Bonnie Peng (彭芸) was the target of criticism at the legislative Transportation Committee yesterday for contrasting her pending resignation in July with that of Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良).
“Yaung Chih-liang said ‘you will be blamed whether you stay or leave.’ I am not as thick-skinned as he is,” Peng said when answering questions from reporters.
She was referring to Yaung describing himself as a thick-skinned person on Wednesday when explaining why he had decided to stay on as minister after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) repeatedly asked him to stay and reached a compromise on a health insurance premium plan.
Saying National Chengchi University’s school of journalism had strict regulations on leave of absence, she said she had to keep her promise and return to the university because the department had only granted her two years’ leave.
Peng said an Executive Yuan nominee had dropped out at the last minute, which led to her being asked to head the NCC and so she had had to make a major decision within a very short time.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said lawmakers were not informed that Peng would only be around for two years when they reviewed the nomination for NCC commissioner. Since the Legislative Yuan agreed that she would serve a four-year term, Lee said Peng had to fulfill her commitment to the people.
In a sarcastic tone, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) praised Peng for being one of only a few government officials who “have the guts” to say exactly what they wanted to say.
Later yesterday, Peng told reporters that she had never considered being a long-term government official.
“I had to make the decision within 13 hours and if I said no, the Executive Yuan would have to restart the nomination process,” she said.
Peng said that she did not think much about the leave of absence issue when she was elected by the commissioners to be the chairperson. To become chairperson, she said she also gave up her US green card.
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