Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) yesterday confirmed that Government Information Office Minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) will formally take over as KMT spokesman on Feb. 24.
Su will also serve as the head of the KMT’s Cultural and Communication Committee.
Current committee director Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) will take a job at the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), King said.
King said the party arranged for Lee to work at the SEF because he had rich experience in cross-strait affairs. The SEF later issued a press release to announce the appointment of Lee as a paid adviser.
The SEF lauded Lee for having a deep understanding of cross-strait relations as he had participated in several cross-strait economic and cultural forums as part of the KMT, and said it expected him to help promote cross-strait affairs.
Speaking after the announcement, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said he would seek the opinion of people short-listed for the GIO minister position during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Wu told reporters that King talked to him about plans for the transfer over the telephone yesterday and that he thought that it was an “honor” that a Cabinet member was selected to serve the party.
“Despite my reluctance to see Su leave the Cabinet, the party needs him and [Su himself] would like to shoulder the responsibility. I have to spend some time thinking about his successor,” Wu said.
Later yesterday, Su said that he would accept any arrangements made by his superiors because he is a member of the administrative team.
“I believe [the reshuffle] was made based on the big picture,” Su said, adding that he was “in no position” to elaborate on the factors involved.
Su has consistently denied rumors about a transfer since they first surfaced about two months ago.
“[Yesterday] was the first time I was told about the change of jobs,” he said.
Born in 1976, Su began to make a name for himself in 2004 when he appeared regularly on TV political talk shows.
Su, then a legislative aide to KMT Legislator Shyu Jong-shyoung (徐中雄), was regarded as an outspoken critic of the party and an advocate of reform after it lost to the Democratic Progressive Party in the 2004 presidential election.
Su was recruited by then Taoyuan County commissioner Eric Chu (朱立倫) to serve the county government.
As President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) prepared to run in the 2008 presidential election while serving as KMT chairman, Su in 2006 left the county government to work for the KMT as its deputy spokesman and then served as a spokesman for Ma’s presidential campaign team.
Meanwhile, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) yesterday kept a low profile amid rumors that Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), deputy president of the state-owned Central News Agency, would replace him as Presidential Office spokesman.
“My priority at this stage is to continue doing my job well,” he said.
Lo, Wang and Su all served as spokesmen during Ma’s presidential campaign.
It has been reported that following the resignation of National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) and the reassignment of Su Jun-pin, a wave of personnel at the Presidential Office, the KMT and in the Cabinet will be reshuffled after the legislative by-elections on Feb. 27.
Ma, who accompanied his mother on a shopping trip for the Lunar New Year holidays yesterday morning, declined to comment on Su Chi’s resignation and the alleged personnel reshuffle.
Ma and King later visited Hsinchu County to campaign for KMT legislative by-election candidate Cheng Yung-tang (鄭永堂).
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