Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday told the Ministry of Civil Service not to approve retirement benefits for former Taiwan Provincial Government employee Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英), who once angered the public by making remarks considered discriminatory to Taiwanese when he served at the nation’s representative office in Toronto.
“The appointment of Kuo [as Taiwan Provincial Government’s secretary for foreign affairs] was illegal from the start, and the administrative procedure through which he was appointed was full of problems,” DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) told a news conference yesterday. “If the ministry approves his retirement application, let us see what will happen.”
Lee and his colleagues were responding to an article in the Chinese-language Next Magazine, which reported yesterday that — despite objections from the Control Yuan — the ministry had already approved Kuo’s retirement application, entitling him to a monthly retirement pension of more than NT$60,000.
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said he is worried that the ministry might try to approve the application amid the “chaos” following last year’s nine-in-one elections.
“If the ministry approves the application, it would be acting against the principles of fairness and justice,” Chen said. “If the ministry does so, the DPP caucus will file complaints with the Control Yuan and the Special Investigation Division [of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office].”
DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) accused Kuo of wanting to take whatever he can from Taiwanese, even while insulting them.
“The Internal Administration Committee has eliminated all funding for the Taiwan Provincial Government and Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council,” he said. “If we can wipe the provincial government from the face of the earth, maybe that’s one positive thing we can get out of the controversy surrounding Kuo’s retirement.”
In a separate setting, the ministry rejected the content of the Next Magazine report, saying that Kuo’s retirement application has yet to be reviewed.
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