Cabinet officials collectively resigned yesterday and are serving as caretakers before the country transitions to a new government, with president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to take office on Monday.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) presided over his last Cabinet meeting yesterday morning, in which the bill for the resignations was approved.
The bill requires the signature of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Photo: CNA
Government officials will continue serving as caretakers until Sunday, only performing routine and essential duties, and not approving any new policies.
Officials reviewed what they had accomplished in the past eight years under Tsai’s leadership, including average GDP growth of 3.15 percent and the transition to renewable energy sources.
Taiwan’s economic growth was better than Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea — which along with Taiwan are known as the Four Asian Dragons — while renewable energy generation is up 110 percent compared with 2016, a report presented at the Cabinet meeting said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
GDP grew NT$27 trillion (US$840.6 billion) during the period, the report said.
Continuous economic and exports growth was due to the government having clear industrial development strategies and offering incentives to draw foreign investment, it said.
The government in the past eight years increased the budget for childcare to NT$120.1 billion from NT$15.4 billion, while funding for long-term care rose to NT$87.6 billion from NT$4.95 billion, it said.
About 510,000 people have benefited from the increase in funding for long-term care, up from 90,000 in 2016, it said.
The minimum monthly wage has been adjusted in each of the past eight years to reach NT$27,470, up from NT$20,008, while the minimum hourly wage has been raised to NT$183 from NT$120, it said.
Salaries for government workers, teachers and military personnel are up 11.4 percent after three increases, the report said, adding that reform of the pension system for government workers, teachers and military personnel helped ensure the system’s sustainability.
The government’s pledge to make 200,000 social housing units available is to be achieved by the end of this year, while a NT$30 billion program was rolled out to subsidize rent and home loans to economically disadvantaged individuals and families, it said.
“Despite serious challenges brought by a rivalry between the US and China, water shortages, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, climate change, global inflation and energy price hikes, government officials and the public have worked together to build a warm and resilient country, and let the world see Taiwan,” Chen said.
Meanwhile, lawmakers agreed to invite premier-designate Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) to brief them on May 31 about the new Cabinet’s vision for governance, following negotiations between Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers.
The legislative session is to be extended to July 16, they said.
The Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) stipulates that the new premier should brief lawmakers within two weeks after taking office, adding that a written version of the briefing must be received by lawmakers three days in advance.
The KMT yesterday reiterated its determination to pass bills it proposed today in a plenary session by working with TPP legislators.
The bills would make “contempt of the legislature” a punishable offense and require the president to deliver a “state of the nation” address.
Some KMT and TPP lawmakers lined up outside the legislative hall on Wednesday to prevent DPP lawmakers from delaying the vote by inundating the sessions with motions.
DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that the actions were a spectacle and the agenda of the plenary session had been set by the Procedure Committee.
“All 51 DPP lawmakers are ready to do whatever we can and will not give up easily,” Wu said.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
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