Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) stood up for Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday and said that the premier's decision to withdraw his pension money as a former Taipei County commissioner was entirely reasonable and within the law.
Lee called a press conference yesterday morning in response to complaints from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) that the premier was not supposed to ask for his former commissioner's pension during the gray period ? between when the old law expired, but before the new law comes into effect. Lee had also asked Su to return the money, which amounts to NT$749,475 (US$23,400).
"I think he [Wu] misunderstood. The law expired at the end of December but the premier had completed all the necessary paperwork [in order to receive the money] in October. Therefore, everything was legal and above board," Lee said.
Wu said that Su's withdrawal of the money was legal, but unreasonable. He said that Su received his money in accordance with the The Temporary Organic Act of the Taiwan Provincial Government (台灣省政府功能業務與組織調整暫行條例), which expired at the end of last year. However, the replacement law -- the "pension regulation for elected government heads" bill (民選地方行政首長薪給退職撫恤條例草案) -- is pending at the legislature. As a result, Su was accused of taking advantage of the gray period to withdraw his pension.
"We will make sure that former commissioners' legal rights are well-protected when we make the new law. So, it would be wise for the premier to return the money now and withdraw it later after we approve the new law," Wu said.
Speaking on behalf of the premier, Government Information Office Minister and Cabinet Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said that the premier had asked his staff to look into the matter and return the money if needed.
"We should not criticize anybody over this issue because it is a problem related to mechanisms rather than certain personnel," Cheng said. "The premier said that he will definitely return any money that does not belong to him."
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