The Cabinet and the legislature both denied a rumor that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government will invite Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Wang is a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which holds a majority in the legislature.
"To appoint anybody to be the premier is the president's decision, so it is not appropriate for the Cabinet to comment on this issue at the moment," Government Information Office Minister Pasuya Yao (姚文智) said yesterday.
"In addition, this issue was not discussed during [yesterday's] Cabinet meeting," he said.
Yao made his remarks during a press conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning. He said that whether to appoint a new premier or reshuffle the Cabinet was a decision to be made by the president, and that if such a decision were made, it would be announced by the Presidential Office.
Therefore, "I currently cannot make any comment on that issue," Yao said.
In the meantime, Wang told reporters that he met with the president and talked about "national affairs," but that they had not talked about anything related to his becoming premier.
"The president has never talked about this issue with me. I am not interested in the premier's job, either," Wang said. "At this moment, I just want to do my job well."
"I am not a three-year-old child. I know what I must do," he said.
People First Party caucus whip Hwang Yih-jiau (
"If he did, he would have only 30 months left in the current [presidential] term to be the premier. He would not have enough time to make any long-term plans and carry them out," Hwang said.
However, he said that if Wang accepted the offer, he would first seek understanding from the pan-blue camp and resolve conflicts with the pan-green camp, and then try to understand what the president really means when it comes to national policies.
"I think it would be a difficult task. I do not think that Wang would do that," Hwang said.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Cheng Chen-lung (程振隆) said that he would welcome the idea of inviting Wang to be premier.
"This idea totally fits the `co-existence' theory that was proposed by Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), and it would take great courage for the ruling government to do so," Cheng said. "If [the president] really does this, the TSU will support him."
Meanwhile, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma said he has no idea whether Chen would ask Wang to form a Cabinet, but he added that if that is the case, the matter should be discussed between the DPP and the KMT in line with the spirit of the "double government chief" system.
According to the "double government chief" system, if the ruling party does not have a majority in the Legislative Yuan, it may allow the legislative majority party or a coalition to form the Cabinet.
Ma said that five-and-a-half years ago, Chen's approval ratings rose to a record high after he appointed Tang Fei (唐飛) -- a KMT stalwart -- to the post of premier.
However, Tang served only five months before being sacked by Chen, Ma said, attributing Tang's record-short stint to the absence of party-to-party consultations prior to his appointment.
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