President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday presided over the inauguration ceremony of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), saying he expected cooperation between the party and the government to be strengthened.
Tseng, formerly the Presidential Office secretary-general, took over the post after former KMT secretary-general Lin Join-sane (林中森) was appointed Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman.
Ma, who is also KMT chairman, described Tseng as a “mamasan “[媽媽桑],” a Japanese term for a female figure in charge of a geisha house, of politics with great social skills and good connections in both the legislative and administrative branches, and said he expected him to facilitate party reform.
“Tseng is always attentive to his duties and able to communicate with both party members and opposition lawmakers. With rich experience in the legislative and administrative branches, I believe he is most suitable for the post,” Ma said.
Tseng pledged to continue pushing forward the party reform effort and to strengthen the function of the negotiation platform between the party and the administration.
“The KMT also needs to revitalize the function of party departments, and attract more young people to join our party and help the party win more elections,” he said.
Lin, on the other hand, dismissed speculation that he was replaced by Tseng because the KMT had been defeated in several elections under him, insisting that he has helped the party win many elections during his term.
Ma yesterday praised Lin for his devotion in implementing party policies and soliciting support at a grassroots level, and said he expected him to facilitate the communication between Taiwan and China as the new SEF chairman.
“Lin had helped built the negotiation platform between the party and the administration, and consolidated grassroots support even in pan-green strongholds. I believe that he will help deepen communication between the two sides across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
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