President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday asked Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and his entire Cabinet to stay on in a caretaker role to ensure a smooth handover of political power, following the submission of their post-election joint resignation, the Presidential Office said.
On Saturday, Taiwanese voters elected the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate William Lai (賴清德) as president, but the party lost its absolute majority in the 113-seat legislature.
In accordance with established constitutional practice, Chen and his entire Cabinet tendered their joint resignation at the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, ahead of the newly elected legislators being inaugurated on Feb. 1, Cabinet spokesman Lin Tze-luen (林子倫) said.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
The move was in line with Constitutional Interpretation No. 387, which states that the premier, although appointed by the president, is accountable to the legislature, and should therefore resign along with their full Cabinet before the first session of each new legislature.
Chen, who has headed up the Cabinet since January last year, submitted the joint resignation to the president, who then asked Chen and the rest of the Cabinet to remain in their positions in a placeholder capacity until Lai’s inauguration on May 20 to help stabilize the political situation and demonstrate Taiwan’s democratic maturity through a smooth handover of power, Presidential Office spokesperson Olivia Lin (林聿禪) said.
Chen yesterday said that the Cabinet is entering a caretaker period and that he hopes the team would keep working with the new legislature to push forward various policies for the benefit of the country and the people, Lin Tze-luen said.
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