A personnel reshuffle at the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) approved by outgoing FSC chairman Gordon Chen (陳樹) hours before the Executive Yuan confirmed Chen’s resignation could be controversial, Personnel Administration Minister Chen Ching-hsiu (陳清秀) said yesterday.
Article 22 of the Civil Service Employment Act (公務人員任用法) bars politically appointed officials from reshuffling personnel after they have tendered a resignation letter.
Gordon Chen (陳樹) tendered his resignation from the post of FSC chairman on Nov. 19 and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) approved his resignation on Friday, the Executive Yuan said in a statement on Friday night.
Chen Ching-hsiu said Gordon Chen did not violate the regulation because he signed off on the personnel adjustment before Nov. 19, the day he offered his resignation.
However, the paperwork should have been suspended if FSC staff had known Gordon Chen had already submitted his letter of resignation, Chen Ching-hsiu said. Chen Ching-hsiu said he would look into the matter and seek to determine when the paperwork was done.
Incoming FSC chairman Sean Chen (陳冲) can decide whether he wants to ratify or revoke the reshuffle previously okayed by Gordon Chen, Chen Ching-hsiu said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), who had previously singled out Gordon Chen to be replaced “for his incompetence,” said the Cabinet could push forward the date for a Cabinet reshuffle in view of the continuing drop in the government’s approval rate.
However, a Cabinet official told the Taipei Times yesterday that the replacement of Gordon Chen “did not suggest that the Cabinet is getting close to a Cabinet reshuffle.”
“A better time to adjust Cabinet personnel would be in the days before the Lunar New Year [on Jan. 24], not now,” said the official, who requested anonymity
The official said a Cabinet reshuffle at this moment would hamper passage of the government’s budget request for the next year, which is still pending legislative approval.
The legislature has yet to decide on a date to end the current session, but it is required by the Constitution to begin a new session on Feb. 1, the last day of the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday, which will start on Jan. 24.
A reshuffled Cabinet launching a new legislative session after the Lunar New Year would be a good opportunity to make a fresh start, the official said.
KMT legislative caucus whip Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said yesterday she supported a Cabinet reshuffle, saying that the six months the new government had been in office was enough for Cabinet officials to demonstrate their competence.
At a separate setting yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said the replacement of Gordon Chen showed that the government had failed to respond appropriately to the global financial crisis, adding that Sean Chen was expected to do a better job.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
Also See: EDITORIAL: Changing more than Chens
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