01.17.06
Premier Frank Hsieh resigns
Frank Hsieh has resigned from his job as President of the Executive Yuan:
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian said on Tuesday he had accepted the resignation of Premier Frank Hsieh in a long-expected cabinet reshuffle after the ruling party’s crushing defeat in December local government elections.
Under Taiwan’s political system, the democratically elected president appoints the premier who forms the cabinet and runs day-to-day government. Chen is head of the military and sets policy towards China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province.
This was widely expected. Hsieh offered his resignation after the December local elections fiasco - and while it wasn’t accepted then, it was pretty common knowledge that Chen was planning a major reshuffle. Clearly he was just waiting until after the election for the DPP Chairman had finished to announce it.
Hot favourite to replace Hsieh is ex-DPP Chair Su Tseng-chang - which would prove that resigning in disgrace is a good career move in Taiwanese politics, as well as showing that nice guys can get to (nearly) the top. However, as Hsieh would testify, being made premier might not be as good an idea as you might think.
What is the point of the premier?
There was almost no reaction from the stockmarket to this announcement - because the premier wields very little actual power. The premier (who is appointed by the president) presides over the cabinet (which is appointed by the president), reports on polices (which are set by the president) to the Legislature, and countersigns laws (which are signed by the president). In other words, the premier does the work of the president. It’s worth noting that in other presidential systems (e.g. the US) and parliamentary systems (e.g. the UK), the leader of the country is also head of the cabinet. That these positions are separate in Taiwan is yet another sign of Taiwan’s defective constitution.
Whoever replaces Hsieh will be the 5th premier to serve under President Chen (President Lee also got through 5 different premiers in his time). The fact that the list of premiers under Chen includes a KMT member, and DPP members who were both allies and potential challengers to Chen’s rule - but that there have been no major policy shifts between premiers shows where the real power lies.
Update (Thursday 19th): As expected Su Tseng-chang has been nominated to replace Hsieh. Either Su was being brutally honest, or the CNA misquoted him when the announcement was made:
Su thanked the president for giving a chance to serve the country and vowed that he will let him and country folks down.
Michael Turton said,
January 17, 2006 at 4:45 pm
I hope they don’t appoint Su. He’s a veteran politician and at an age where he can be disgraced. I’d pick someone young who can outlive the problems of being selected premier.
Michael
DemoBlogger said,
January 18, 2006 at 12:27 am
I’ve reblogged this post to DemoBlog, a blog of global democracy struggles. Good post and thanks for giving some context and explaing what exactly the premier does. - Mary (Editor in Chief)
Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Taiwan: Premier Resigns said,
January 18, 2006 at 8:41 am
[...] One whole jujuflop situation has been following realignments in the Taiwan government since the ruling party’s defeat in the last election. His latest is on the premier’s resignation today. But the job’s not as important as it sounds. [...]
hongkong rubber pork chop said,
January 18, 2006 at 9:33 am
Su would be a fool to take this job he wants a run at president in ‘08. THe premier’s position is nothing more than whipping boy for the (increasingly hostile) Legislative Yuan. This go well, the President gets the credit. Things go badly, the premier is first in the line of fire. The worse the relationship between the LY and the president, the more miserable this job gets. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.
Jason said,
January 21, 2006 at 1:02 am
The Pasuya Yao Doomsday clock has officially begun counting down. Any bets on when the cut will be made?
The View from Taiwan said,
January 29, 2006 at 10:15 am
[IMG] David at jujuflop, whose writing on Taiwan’s politics is illuminated by vast knowledge and deep insight, blogged on a number of important political topics over the past few weeks. First,he discussed the change of premiers: There was almost no reaction from the stockmarket to this announcement - because the premier wields very little actual power. The premier (who is appointed by the president) presides over the cabinet
Radikaz said,
January 30, 2006 at 6:59 am
realise how democratic has Taiwan gotten to date and how Authoritarian our hinterland had gotten to be. In the next few years, i won’t see Singapore turning to be a much open society due to PAP’s paternality ruling. Interesting to said, President Chenhas been rotating Premier almost every years. And to correlate it with their political struggles and upholding it’s existence against Mainland Chinese’s yearness for Chinese’s Unification effort, Netel Nut girl’s is another profession that has little appreciation….at least
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