Remarks by Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) that at least five Cabinet ministers could be replaced in the coming days failed to satisfy the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which yesterday said the changes failed to reach the “actual people that need to be replaced.”
“In fact, the Cabinet member who should be most urgently replaced is Wu himself,” DPP spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said. “Under his Cabinet, the income gap has grown, prices of everyday items have gone up and the misery index hasn’t stopped rising.”
Lin added that the DPP felt other ministers should also be facing the chopping block, including Environmental Protection Agency Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏) for a series of environmental controversies and Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) for the -increasing the national debt
Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) should also step down to take responsibility for the lowered credit rating the nation received from Fitch Ratings on Wednesday, Lin added. Fitch, citing high public debt and lagging fiscal growth, reduced the country’s rating to “AA-” from “AA.”
“These ministers are President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) favorites, but they need to all be replaced,” Lin said.
On Thursday evening, while dining with senior media executives, Wu was quoted as saying that at least five ministers would be replaced in an upcoming Cabinet reshuffle.
Sources said the new Cabinet lineup would be finalized in the next few days and announced before the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Wednesday.
The newly appointed ministers would formally take over their new posts on Feb. 8.
Informed sources said the reshuffle would mainly focus on recruiting new faces, including some who are now working abroad, to serve as ministers without portfolio.
Three incumbent Cabinet members — National Youth Commission Minister Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷), Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) and Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Minister Kao Su-po (高思博) — will definitely be replaced because they have tendered their resignations.
Despite calls for the government to reshuffle its economic and financial team in preparation for tougher challenges ahead in the global commodity and financial markets, incumbent economics and finance ministers would remain in their posts, as both Ma and Wu are satisfied with their efforts to revitalize the domestic economy during the past year, the sources said.
Ma is scheduled to visit Taiwan’s allies in Africa in March and preparatory work will begin after the Lunar New Year holiday.
“It is not likely that Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) will step down at this moment,” an official familiar with the issue said.
The restructuring of the Cabinet lineup will give priority to meeting the challenges of the next round of legislative elections and next year’s presidential election, the sources said.
Taipei Medical University president Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) has been tapped to succeed Yaung as the new health minister, with Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) possibly concurrently serving as minister of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission after the reshuffle.
It remains unclear whether a female replacement would be named to succeed Wang as the new youth affairs minister.
If the post were filled by a man, the ratio of female ministers would drop even further below the one-quarter level promised by Ma during his presidential campaign.
Women currently account for 23 percent of the Cabinet lineup.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS