Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said that "tacit understanding" among his Cabinet members has improved but as a whole, the Cabinet needs to improve its communication ability so the public can better understand the government's policy initiatives.
Relations
During an exclusive interview, the premier also talked about his relations with President Chen Shui-bian (
Over six months into his term as premier, Hsieh said there is room for improvement for his Cabinet, but "for now there is no plan for a reshuffle."
Only when there are cases of incompetency or vacancies will he consider changes to the Cabinet.
The Cabinet needs to improve its communication ability, he said, adding that many policy initiatives the Cabinet considers "good" are opposed by many people.
Tuition policy
He said the Ministry of Educa-tion is among the government departments with poor communication ability, citing the much-criticized tuition policy as an example.
When a university student pays NT$50,000 for a semester, the government actually has to invest between NT$200,000 and NT$250,000 to support him, Hsieh claimed.
If he does not even pay NT$50,000, the country certainly will be adopting a low-tuition policy, he said, noting that it is the public's taxes that are used to fund college and university education.
Some critics have claimed that tuition is too high and people agree with that claim, the premier said.
Not left behind
Hsieh claimed that poor students are not left behind, "because we have scholarships and other academic funds totalling NT$17.4 billion a year" as incentives to those with good academic records and for loans to needy students.
Things like that "we are beginning to make clear to people this year," Hsieh said.
Health care
Another policy initiative that the government has not communicated well to the public, according to Hsieh, is health care insurance premiums.
If a patient goes to the hospital too often, accumulating big medical bills but paying very little, it is the public that foots the bills, he said.
"The money does not go into the government's pocket and yet people demand that the government pay for the patient. It isn't right for the government to pay, because the government's money comes out of the people's pockets," he said.
Turning to the interaction between Chen and the Cabinet, the premier said he regularly meets the president, who tells him how he feels about each Cabinet member and about Hsieh himself.
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