The latest Cabinet reshuffle is unlikely to reduce the level of discord between the government and the opposition alliance, political analysts said yesterday.
Analysts also noted that the new alliance between the New Party's Hau Lung-bin (
And unlike past Cabinet reshuffles under former presidents Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) or Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) -- which were seen as management decisions to improve efficiency and make strategic changes -- yesterday's reshuffle by Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) is clearly just a case of crisis management, analysts said.
"The premier neither decided what the scale of the changes should be nor who he initially wanted to promote, but only announced the reshuffle because he caved into pressure from opposition lawmakers," said Chin Heng-wei (
"The Cabinet changes are the result of the failed decision to halt construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power plant," Chin said.
A source in the Presidential Office said that Chang's commitment to accomplish the reshuffle within one week surprised the president and thwarted his original strategy of reshuffling the Cabinet after May 20.
"The reshuffle should have heralded a new start for the government, and should have raised public expectations and garnered support from the people," a senior aide to the president said.
"That's why President Chen originally wanted to give Cabinet members three months to improve their efficiency before being expected to perform optimally by the anniversary of inauguration day on May 20," the aide said.
"But the reshuffle appears to be just an awkward attempt to satisfy opposition lawmakers' demands and smooth over the bungled handling of the recent oil spill [in southern Taiwan]," he said.
The aide said that while it is true that the president and the premier fell out of sync due to Chang's promise to change the Cabinet within one week, in the end only a few minor changes were made.
"The president and the premier decided to carry out a small-scale reshuffle instead of following opposition lawmakers' demands [to replace specific ministers]," the source said.
But some DPP members were not so cheerful over the outcome.
"The government, especially the premier, must be able to resist opposition party pressure," said Hong Chi-chang (
As for the appointment of the New Party's Hau to head the Environmental Protection Administration, political observers were not of one mind.
Some DPP lawmakers said that the president should create a conciliatory atmosphere and try to seek cooperation with opposition parties through Hau.
Chin, however, thinks that the appointment of Hau is like placing a bomb within the government's team and that long-term success is unrealistic.
"If Hau has asked the president to respect his political stance and allow him to speak freely even on the controversial nuclear power issue, then how can the DPP persuade its members to follow party guidelines?" Chin said.
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