When Council of Agriculture Chairman Fan Chen-tsung (
Straightforward and down-to-earth, the 60-year-old Hakka raised political eyebrows on Oct. 22 when he told a legislative committee that he was unfit for his job, which he depicted as "gruesome and harmful to his health."
"It's really difficult to steer the council and I hope I can quit," Fan said while briefing the legislature's Economics and Energy Committee on the council's spending plan for next year.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Fan added that he believed his life would be shortened by 10 years if he stayed at his post for two more years and that he was not interested in being an official.
Reluctant to see a change to the Cabinet line-up following the recent departure of the head of Department of Health Lee Ming-liang (
"The government desperately needs his help, especially when the legislature is now in session and the annual fiscal budget and many bills are awaiting further review at the legislature," Yu said.
Although Fan eventually promised to stay on, he did not specify until when.
A few days later, Fan reportedly told the media that he would join a 100,000-person demonstration scheduled for Nov. 23 to show his opposition to the government's financial reform measures targeting farmers' and fishermen's associations.
He later dismissed the report and said that he will "do whatever former president Lee Teng-hui (
His remark drew immediate criticism from the media, which said that he had no respect for President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Yu, Fan's direct supervisor.
Wasting no time Fan criticized Cabinet officials for being "clueless about agriculture and agricultural reform."
Fan was referring to the Ministry of Finance, which issued an administrative order to adopt dramatic measures to take care of the non-performing loan problems of the financial institutions of farmers' and fishermen's associations.
The government is hoping to help local credit cooperatives affiliated with farmers' or fishermen's associations transform themselves into commercial banks or merge with other banking institutions.
According to government statistics, 61 of the nation's local credit cooperatives whose overdue loan ratios rose to 25 percent or higher have managed to reduce these ratios after the introduction of the government's financial reform measures in the past months.
Despite the success, the measures have created a backlash among farmers and fishermen who said that the government is trying to "wipe them out."
Seeking to quell the resistance, Fan accompanied the premier and met with farmers and fishermen on Nov. 7.
The farmers and fishermen announced that their plan to take to the streets on Nov. 23 remained unchanged.
Commenting on Fan's recent resignation saga, Chin Heng-wei (
"Although he's been in the civil sector for many years, I don't think he realizes that there are differences between being a local government official or a central government official," he said.
Fan served as a Hsinchu County councilor between 1976 and 1986. He was elected as Hsinchu County commissioner in 1989 and a lawmaker in 1998.
Chin added that Fan should have known when he took up the position of agriculture head that an administrative officer at the central government literally does not have a voice of his own.
"If he does, he should make his voice heard behind closed doors, not in public," Chin said.
If he finds his personal ideals clash with the government's agenda, then it may be time for him to quit, he said.
"Honestly speaking, I don't think he's fit for his job and I don't think it's responsible or mature for a government official to offer up a resignation that easily. It looks like a game," Chin said.
Chin also called on the premier to avoid allowing government officials to let their emotions get the better of them.
"No one is irreplaceable," Chin said. "If he [Fan] wants to quit, let him. Hire another person who is competent and Hakka if what the premier is worried about is losing Hakka voters," Chin said.
PFP lawmaker Ko Shu-ming (柯淑敏) said, "Although we've had arguments before, I still think that he's one of the few government officials who has the guts to stick up for what he believes," she said.
Ko engaged in a verbal skirmish with Fan in the legislature on Oct. 9 over the government's ongoing campaign to reform the credit departments of farmers' and fishermen's associations across the nation.
The legislator pressed the agriculture head to shed light on the magnitude of financial losses incurred by those government-owned institutions, among other things.
Both challenged each other to resign from office for impolite conduct.
Describing Fan as straightforward and down-to-earth, Ko dismissed the talk that Fan is the kind of politician good at political maneuvering.
"Because we both come from the blue-collar sector, I know very well that he's the kind of guy who'd do what he can to help people in need," she said.
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