President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) as new National Security Bureau director-general and Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) as Presidential Office secretary-general, ahead of a Cabinet reshuffle.
Former Taoyuan mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) is to become vice premier, while former Keelung mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) is to become minister of the interior, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported, citing a preliminary list of Cabinet positions compiled by the Presidential Office on Wednesday, after Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) announced the resignation of his Cabinet before the Lunar New Year holiday.
The report came a day after the government confirmed that former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) was nominated by Tsai Ing-wen to be the new premier.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Liberty Times
The new Cabinet would include more female ministers than the previous one, the Liberty Times reported.
The government has set three major principles on how Cabinet members would be selected after the president held meetings with Chen, Su and Vice President William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday, the report said.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who served as deputy head of the Central Epidemic Command Center, is to become the new Executive Yuan spokesman, it said.
Photo: Lo Pei-te, Taipei Times
Executive Yuan Secretary-General Lee Meng-yen (李孟諺) and Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) are to keep their posts, the report said.
Chen Chien-jen reportedly told Tsai Ing-wen that apart from their respective expertise, he would be selecting his Cabinet members based on three guiding principles: raising the number of female Cabinet members, retaining more officials aged 44 to 64, as well as members with experience in local governments.
Cheng was chosen because he is familiar with local politics and has a track record of successfully coordinating between central and local governments, the report said, adding that his expertise would complement Chen Chien-jen’s lack of experience in local politics.
Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times
The Presidential Office is to make a formal announcement on the new Cabinet today.
The current Cabinet is to resign on Monday, while the new members are to take office on Tuesday, it said.
Separately, local media yesterday reported that Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) would switch posts.
Photo: AP
As of press time last night, the government had not commented on the report.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said Chen Chien-jen would face a “tough job full of challenges.”
“He and his Cabinet must provide leadership ahead of the upcoming presidential and legislative elections. This is a huge job, but somebody must take up the burden,” she said. “Chen Chien-jen is the man for the job, and we all have great expectations for him to lead us into the elections.”
Additional reporting by CNA and Jason Pan
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