Embattled Premier Frank Hsieh (
He will lead the Cabinet in a mass resignation on Monday.
Hsieh cited the failure of the legislature to approve the 2006 budget as the reason for his departure, but also made pointed remarks about his relationship with the president.
PHOTO: LUO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
"I firmly believe the foundation for reconciliation is to obtain power first and I am willing to bear the responsibility for the outcome of the [budget] request," Hsieh said. "However, it has failed to win the support [of the Presidential Office], which strengthens my determination to leave."
"While I don't have any advice for my successor, I have asked the president to let the new premier have more time to orient himself with the new position and stay on the job longer," he said.
Hsieh's tenure as premier was marked by a series of corruption scandals in the government, followed by an electoral defeat for his party.
The president accepted Hsieh's decision without protest.
"I have accepted his resignation. He has stepped down after accomplishing his mission," President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said during a visit to Kinmen yesterday.
Chen said he would appoint a replacement before Lunar New Year's Day.
"I would like to appoint a new premier as soon as possible to not only stabilize the political situation but also to ensure smooth government administration," he added.
Accompanied by Vice Premier Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), Cabinet Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and other Cabinet officials, Hsieh made public his resignation during a press conference yesterday morning.
Hsieh said that he had told the president not to arrange any new position for him, because he would like to take a break from politics. He said he would like to take up writing to try to explain his policies to the public.
Hsieh added that he would like to see his Cabinet members retain their jobs, because his departure had a lot to do with personality conflicts. However, he admitted that what happened to the Cabinet after his departure was not up to him.
Hsieh said he had offered to leave twice after last month's local government elections, but that his resignation was rejected by the president because former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Su Tseng-chang (
Hsieh said he had proposed to the president that he should sit down and talk with the party's "four superstars" -- Su, Hsieh, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and DPP chairman-elect Yu Shyi-kun -- in a bid to coordinate their efforts.
"To be honest with you, the relationship between me and the others [Su, Lu and Yu] is more tense than [the relationship] between the president and I," Hsieh said.
The negotiation process, however, did not go well, Hsieh said. The party was busy with the DPP chairmanship election, while the government and legislature were tied up with the budget review.
With Yu elected as the new chairman and the budget review over, Hsieh said he broached the issue again and finally obtained the president's agreement.
After the president agreed to let him go on Monday night, Hsieh said he felt greatly relieved and that he had had a good night's sleep.
"I feel my burden has been lifted," Hsieh said.
Later, however, Hsieh sounded wistful when he said he would soon be jobless and that "being jobless is sometimes very undignified."
He was speaking during an inspection of a Council of Labor Affairs job training office in Taipei County, hours after he announced he would step down.
"It's indeed very coincidental," he said, that he should be visiting a place whose purpose is to find jobs for the unemployed.
"I will always remember this day," he said.
Additional reporting by Chiu Yu-tzu
Also see stories:
ANNOUNCEMENT: People who do not comply with the ban after a spoken warning would be reported to the police, the airport company said on Friday Taoyuan International Airport Corp on Friday announced that riding on vehicles, including scooter-suitcases (also known as “scootcases”), bicycles, scooters and skateboards, is prohibited in the airport’s terminals. Those using such vehicles should manually pull them or place them on luggage trolleys, the company said in a Facebook post. The ban intends to maintain order and protect travelers’ safety, as the airport often sees large crowds of people, it said, adding that it has stepped up publicity for the regulation, and those who do not comply after a spoken warning would be reported to the police. The company yesterday said that
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
RSS