Pingtung County Commissioner Su Chia-chuan (
"Due to his extensive political experience, the premier thought Commissioner Su was the best person to fill the vacancy," Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
Su served as a lawmaker between 1993 and 1997, and is serving his second four-year term as Pingtung County commissioner.
PHOTO: WEI BIN, TAIPEI TIMES
Yu Cheng-hsien tendered his resignation on Sunday over the election-eve shooting of President Chen Shui-bian (
According to Lin, both the premier and the president highly appreciated Su's performance over the years and were confident that he would do a good job.
Earlier yesterday morning, Lin told a press conference that the premier would not announce the new minister by May 12, when the premier leads Cabinet officials, including the new interior minister, to resign en masse in accordance with the Constitution that the Cabinet must vacate its posts before the inauguration of the new president. Chen will be sworn in for his second four-year term on May 20.
"Respecting Minister Yu's personal wishes and acknowledging his courage to shoulder the political onus, the premier approved the minister's resignation on the evening of Sunday and is looking for his successor," Lin told the press conference held at the Cabinet yesterday morning.
Lin said that the premier hoped Yu Cheng-hsien would stand fast at his post until the new minister is found.
Yu Cheng-hsien, who was originally scheduled to hold a press conference yesterday morning to officially announce his resignation, decided to take a five-day vacation starting yesterday and ask his secretary to read an announcement.
In the statement, Yu Cheng-hsien said that he offered his resignation verbally on March 19, the day of the attempted assassination, in an effort to assume political responsibility.
He was persuaded by the premier to stay on because of the upcoming presidential election. He then tendered his resignation in writing on Sunday.
Before the dust settled, other possible leading candidates to succeed Yu Cheng-hsien included Minister without Portfolio Yeh Jiunn-rong (
When asked by reporters about his intent to take up the post yesterday, Yeh Jiunn-rong said that it was inappropriate for him to make any comment before the premier approaches him about the matter. He, however, added that he would accept the premier's personnel arrangement.
A Cabinet official who asked not to be named said that it did not sound like a bad idea to have a female interior minister since Chen has vowed on various occasions to see more high-ranking female government officials.
Meanwhile, the National Police Administration (NPA) confirmed yesterday that NPA Director-General Chang Si-liang (
As for who will succeed Chang, Lin said that the question is up to the new minister to decide.
According to the press release made available by the NPA, Chang offered his resignation verbally to his direct supervisor Yu Cheng-hsien on the day of the shooting. He agreed to stay on because of the presidential election and the subsequent mass protests. He told lawmakers and reporters on Sunday that he would submit his resignation yesterday morning to take full responsibility for the assassination attempt.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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