Appointed government officials should concentrate on their own work rather than stump for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) election candidates, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) said yesterday.
Chen said the "stumping mechanism" will only be activated after next month.
The next legislative elections will adopt a new "single-member constituency, two votes" electoral system and the legislature will also be streamlined by halving the number of legislators to 113.
Chen said Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) has instructed him to study a stumping mechanism for appointed government officials, adding that he will only work on the mechanism in the latter half of next month.
He said the present emphasis for officials will be to push for better administrative performance, as well as to work in tune with the screening of bills in the legislature, adding that good Cabinet performance will be the best campaign tactic for the DPP.
Responding to reports by the United Daily News that the stumping mechanism will be activated after Oct. 10, he said it would be impossible to achieve this so soon.
Chen noted that the legislature began its new session early this month and that the Executive Yuan has to give administrative reports to the Legislative Yuan, while Cabinet officials also have to go to the legislature to answer questions from lawmakers.
In the past, the legislature has gone into recess one month ahead of the elections to allow lawmakers to go back to their constituencies to prepare.
Chen also denied reports that the Executive Yuan has earmarked officials perceived to be good orators -- Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通), Government Information Office Minister Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉), Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) and Council of Agriculture Chairman Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), to be the main stumping campaigners for DPP candidates.
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