The office of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday announced belt-tightening measures and asked for public donations to sustain its daily operations until February after a recent amendment revoked Chen’s perks as a former head of state.
Chen Sung-shan (陳淞山), manager of Chen’s office, said it would continue to operate despite the financial difficulty. To sustain the NT$540,000 (US$16,800) monthly expenses, he said the office would implement austerity measures to cut costs.
The five office employees have agreed to a salary cut of 20 percent and the Neo Formosa Weekly magazine will become a biweekly publication, he said.
PHOTO: CNA
BOOK REVENUE
They also hoped to raise some money when the office launches a book written by the former president.
Chen Sung-shan urged the public to make donations of small amounts, saying they hoped to raise NT$4 million to finance daily operations until February. If things did not go well, he said he was willing to borrow money with his own credit.
Since the “one country on each side of the Taiwan Strait alliance” has 35 members standing in the November elections, Chen Sung-shan said he was confident that between 80 percent and 90 percent of them would be elected and then they could address the funding problem.
The legislature on Aug. 19 passed an amendment to the Act Governing Preferential Treatment for Retired Presidents and Vice Presidents (卸任總統副總統禮遇條例) introduced by the KMT caucus.
The amendment stipulates that former presidents and vice presidents will be stripped of courtesy treatment, including their monthly allowance and annual expenses, if convicted by a court of grave offenses, such as sedition or graft.
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