Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday suggested a Cabinet reshuffle, saying he would inform the public about his plans in due course.
“I will make a report to the public [about the Cabinet reshuffle] when the time is right,” Lai said during an Executive Yuan news conference, where he announced plans to improve Taiwan’s start-up environment.
Asked if he had met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) over the Lunar New Year holiday to discuss the restructuring as reported by local media, Lai said that he had met with Tsai on a regular and an ad hoc basis.
Photo: Wang Yi-song, Taipei Times
Lai did not give an outright confirmation of speculation about a reshuffle, which resurfaced last week.
A report by online Chinese-language news outlet Up Media on Wednesday said that Lai and Tsai met on Monday to exchange views on Cabinet appointments.
According to the report, Minister of Labor Lin Mei-chu (林美珠), Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) and Vice Minister of National Defense Admiral Pu Tze-chun (蒲澤春) would be replaced, likely by Deputy Minister of Labor Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Kaohsiung Education Bureau Director-General Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠) and Air Force Commander General Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴) respectively.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) and Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), who have long been speculated to be replaced, would stay, the report said.
Other media outlets reported that Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) would be replaced in what would be a minor reshuffle that should see the departure of only a few ministers and a higher number of deputy ministers.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would reportedly to be appointed either a deputy minister of foreign affairs or an envoy before being officially nominated as the foreign minister.
Hsiao denied the report, saying she would remain at her post as a lawmaker representing Hualien.
Former DPP legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) said a large-scale reorganization is necessary as Cabinet members have unhealthily low publicity ratings, citing a Jan. 30 survey by Chinese-language news site my-Formosa.com.
Less than 20 percent of respondents could name a given minister and only 0.8 percent knew who the minister of economic affairs is.
The low identification rate of Cabinet members — some of whom are in their second year of office — should prompt a large-scale reshuffle, as a minor restructuring could lead to a further drop in the approval ratings of the president and the premier, Lin Cho-shui added.
Late yesterday, allegations emerged that Lin Mei-chu and Minister of Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) were to resign, but the Cabinet did not confirm the resignations.
Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-Yung (徐國勇) said he could not comment until the decision was finalized.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
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STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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