Sat, Apr 01, 2000 page1

• Chen stands tough on Cabinet choices

  GOVERNMENT Given Taiwan's semi-presidential system, Chen Shui-bian says he won't bargain with the KMT or let it influence the forming of his administration

  • By Irene Lin / STAFF REPORTER
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  With no apparent end in sight to the controversy over his appointment of Minister of National Defense Tang Fei (唐飛) as premier, President-elect Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday ruled out any possibility of negotiating with the KMT over the nomination.

  "I want to be a president for all the people, and I have been open-minded enough to nominate Tang as the head of the executive branch. But the KMT has mistaken this as a sign of me compromising and has gone so far as to ask for `the whole bowl' (the right to choose the new Cabinet)," Chen said.

  "But I want to make it clear -- there will be no negotiations and no cooperation [between the parties]. The KMT had better forget these fancy ideas as soon as possible," Chen said.

  

  Two days after President-elect Chen Shui-bian announced his intention to nominate Tang Fei as premier, the Minister of National Defense had a meeting yesterday with KMT legislators.

  PHOTO: CHUANG CHUNG-LUNG, LIBERTY TIMES

  When Chen first announced his decision to appoint Tang on Wednesday, the defense minister stressed he would not accept the offer without the KMT's approval. Since then, senior KMT members have suggested any appointments to the new Cabinet should be negotiated through party-to-party channels.

  Chen, however, said he has neither the desire nor the need to compromise over the issue, insisting he wants to structure a government for all people -- not for any particular political parties or individuals.

  In fact, Chen's idea of a government "for all people" has been challenged by not only the KMT, but several constitutional scholars, on the grounds that it is different from models in other countries that also use a "semi-presidential" system of government.

  "It's neither a DPP-ruled government, nor a coalition between the DPP and the KMT. Where there are political responsibilities, there must be party politics. But I wonder who should take the responsibility under Chen's new government," said Wu Yu-shan (吳玉山), a political scientist at National Taiwan University.

  Wu's question is just one of many to highlight the problem of Taiwan's system, especially during times when the president is not from the majority party in the legislature.

  Nevertheless, the dispute over political systems appears far less complicated to Chen -- since one of his campaign pledges was to change the existing system to a presidential one.

  Under a presidential system, such as that of the US, the president has the exclusive power to nominate executive positions.

  Constitutional changes would have to be made in Taiwan in order to give the legislature power of approval over the president's nominations so that the government could become a pure presidential system.

  When Chen was elected as Taipei mayor in 1994, he faced a similar situation in trying to put together a new team for the city government.

  At that time, he stressed that he would appoint competent officials, regardless of their party affiliation, ethnicity, or gender. In the end, his city government was made up of not only DPP members, but people from the KMT and independents.

  "It worked well that time. And I feel it could also work well in the central government," said Lin Chia-cheng (林嘉誠), a policy advisor to Chen and the director of Taipei's Commission on Research, Development and Evaluation during Chen's tenure.

  Lin said a government controlled by any one party is likely to place party interests above the people. What Chen proposes, Lin said, is a government that would pursue the interest of the people rather than that of any party or individual.

  While many question which party would be to blame for the possible failure of a non-partisan government, DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) claimed yesterday that his party is to shoulder all responsibility under the circumstances.

  "What we want is a government run by a group of honest, decent people, whether they're from the DPP or KMT. We don't necessarily have to fit into either the French or the Polish model, as the KMT suggests. If the voters feel dissatisfied with what Tang or other ministers do in the future, just put the blame on the DPP," Lin said.Also See Editorial Inside
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