The entire board of the China Aviation Development Foundation (CADF) -- the biggest shareholder in China Airlines -- has offered to resign to take political responsibility for Saturday's crash of flight CI611, officials said yesterday.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Lin-san (
Lin said his ministry was working to restructure the foundation, which controls 72 percent of the company. The foundation has nine directors and one supervisor, half of whom are government appointees.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
On Tuesday, Premier Yu Shyi-kun vowed to resurrect a plan to privatize the state-run airline and come up with a reform plan within a week or two.
The air tragedy has disrupted the DPP's agenda, as the party had been on the verge of launching a campaign to promote Yu's "Challenging 2008" program, a six-year plan to build Taiwan into a regional economic powerhouse.
The DPP has also been forced to postpone the nomination of Lee Ying-yuan (
A government source told the Taipei Times that the Presidential Office is anxious to clean up the China Airlines mess so President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) may go ahead with an Africa trip in July.
He said the government is likely to reshuffle the CADF and the Aviation Safety Council as well as setting a rough timetable for privatizing the airline.
Foundation chairman Tsay Jaw-yang (
Cabinet spokesman Chuang Suo-hang (
For days, lawmakers from across party lines had demanded Tsay' resignation. But Tsay, a former minister of transportation and communications, had resisted those calls, saying the cause of the crash was still unknown.
"I don't consider it fair for me to step down when investigators have not yet uncovered the flight data recorders," Tsay said, fielding questions from the lawmakers yesterday morning. "Nor can I guarantee that China Airlines will not have any accident in the future. Many things are unpredictable."
Tsay also said it would be useless for him to visit Penghu, where coast guard officials and others continue to search for the remains of the plane and victims.
"What can I do there?" he said. "The presence of the airline's president and general manager will do."
Tsay's remarks enraged legislators yesterday. PFP Legislator Chou Yi (邱毅) called Tsay a "shameless" politician.
"I hope you will consult your conscience. The dead are looking at you," Chou said.
KMT Legislator Wu Den-yi (
"Though unwilling, you had better take the responsibility and quit," Wu said, adding Tsay phoned him the night before to ask for mercy.
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