Reacting to charges that the government's system for appointing heads of state-run corporations is partly to blame for last Saturday's China Airlines crash, Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday announced that the presidents of state-run-enterprises will be appointed by public recruiting beginning next month.
The government currently holds more than 70 percent of China Airlines shares.
As well as vowing to resurrect a plan to privatize the state-run airline and come up with a reform plan within a week or two, Yu expressed his desire yesterday to remove the current appointment system for presidents of state-run corporations. The new measure is expected to affect about 90 such positions.
"Incidents such as the air crash and the recent case of mismanagement of electricity [at Taiwan Power Co] are related to the [poor] operating achievements of state-run enterprises," Yu said.
"The old system for appointments gives the public the impression that those positions are rewards for political service. But we will appoint candidates for these positions in the future by public tender. The presidents, however, will be required to take full responsibility when any mishaps occur," Yu said in an interview with Formosa TV.
Yu's demand that the Cabinet's Central Personnel Administration create a new system has been completed as a draft and was submitted to the Executive Yuan yesterday.
According to the administration, the measure is expected to take effect next week, after Yu gives his official approval.
Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), director-general of the Central Personnel Administration, explained that the administration would create a committee, which would consist of Cabinet members and academics, to select two to three appropriate candidates for the posts. Yu would be entitled to make the final decision on the appointments.
"The new measure will remove the disadvantages of the old political reward system. We believe that the new system, on the other hand, will accelerate the operating achievements of state-run-enterprises," Lee said.
The Commission of National Corporations under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which manages about 30 state-run enterprises, said that it is still evaluating the new measure.
Currently, former DPP secretary-general Wu Nai-jen (
Wu, who is considered to be well suited to his position, declined to comment on the measure yesterday.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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