Soochow University president Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) confirmed yesterday that he had accepted president-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) invitation to serve as premier.
“I talked with Ma many times, and we have reached a consensus. I agreed to serve as the premier of the new government,” Liu said yesterday when approached for comment at the university.
Liu said he would further discuss the details with Ma and finalize the lineup of the new Cabinet by the end of this month.
Ma is scheduled to announce his Cabinet around April 20.
Liu, who served as vice premier in former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) administration — alongside vice president-elect Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), who served as premier — is a long-time adviser to Ma.
After serving as vice premier, Liu became a close aide to former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
Holder of a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Toronto, Liu returned to academia after the KMT lost power to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 2000.
Liu refused to confirm the news two days ago when first quizzed about it, but admitted the appointment yesterday after Ma spokesman Luo Chih-chiang (羅智強) confirmed late on Thursday night that Liu would be the new premier.
Luo yesterday denied he had only decided to announce Liu’s appointment after local media outlets received notes condemning Liu for having an affair with talk show host Ying Nai-ching (尹乃菁).
The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) carried a story about the affair two years ago, along with photos showing them going to movies and dinners together.
Luo said the office decided to confirm Liu’s appointment because media outlets have carried stories about Liu and the premiership.
He declined to comment on Liu’s alleged affair.
Admitting that his decision had met opposition from his family, Liu said he would try to persuade them to support his decision.
Ma refused to comment on the appointment, saying only that his office would clarify the matter.
A note was faxed to local media outlets on Thursday, drawing attention to Liu’s alleged affair and accusing Ma of trying to appoint a premier with suspect morals.
Liu refused to comment on the matter.
The DPP caucus yesterday said that DPP members wished Liu well as premier.
“On behalf of my fellow DPP members, I wish him luck,” deputy DPP caucus whip Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said during a press conference at the caucus office yesterday morning.
“Meanwhile, we also hope that the personnel for the new Cabinet will be decided as soon as possible so the current Cabinet can begin the transition,” he said.
Kuan said that she would not question Liu’s ability to carry out his new role because he had experience as vice premier under Siew. The DPP believed Siew and Liu’s experience of working together would serve them well.
“The DPP caucus hopes that Liu can carry out Siew’s economic policies and help to improve things,” Kuan said.
Meanwhile, Ma said in an interview on Thursday that his Cabinet, in addition to focusing on the economy, would concentrate on education, ways to reduce ethnic divisions and fighting corruption.
“People naturally tend to think that we will focus on economy. True, but that is only one of our focuses,” he said.
Although the economy has topped the list of complaints he has heard during his visits to more than 260 townships in the past year, people also want the government to pay extra attention to education, he said.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang and agencies
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