N-plant dispute sees a change of PM

By F.J. Khergamvala

TOKYO, OCT. 4. The Taiwanese leader, Mr. Chen Shui-bian moved quickly to shore up confidence in his administration by appointing a new Premier within hours of the resignation of Mr. Tang Fei. The naming of the next in line, the Vice-Premier, Mr. Chang Chung-hsiung, 62, was clean, quick and consistent with party policy, but whether it improves the administration's prospects in the legislature remains to be seen.

As required by the Constitution, the Cabinet of the old Premier resigned en masse. Some of the members, including members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of Mr. Chen have decided to leave, thus paving the way for the conciliator new head of government, Mr. Chang to improve the DPP's chances of getting legislation passed in a parliament where the majority rests with the Opposition Kuomintang (KMT). Under pressure from the KMT, the new Cabinet also withdrew its draft budget from the Parliament. Mr. Tang was a KMT member until Mr. Chen took him aboard.

Mr. Chang's appointment to the post is being widely interpreted to mean that the DPP of Mr. Chen Shui-bian is firmly opposed to plans to complete a new nuclear plant, which would have been Taiwan's fourth. The China Economic News Service reported that the island's Ministry of Economic Affairs will call for bids by the end of this year for the private sector to participate in the construction of a natural gas powered plant to compensate for likely power shortages occurring as a result of scrapping the nuclear plant in northern Taiwan.

Mr. Tang's resignation late on Tuesday night brought the nuclear plant issue into sharper focus. Mr. Tang, 68, resigned suddenly on grounds of ill-health after just four and a half months into office as the Premier of Mr. Chen, who was sworn in on May 20 this year. This ostensible reason was given some credibility because Mr. Tang underwent surgery last May to remove a benign chest tumour and went back into hospital to have an infection treated.

Within the Chen Government, the outgoing Premier was probably the only supporter of the 2,700 megawatt, $5.5 billion nuclear plant going ahead. By the end of this month, he had to make a final decision on the fate of the nuclear plant, which was sanctioned by the former KMT Government. Following his old KMT party line and not that of the DPP, Mr. Tang had also said he would quit if the construction of the plant was halted. Located in Taipei county, about one third of the plant has been completed. The new Premier, Mr. Chang is a lawyer and was a Member of Parliament for 17 years until he became the secretary- general in the Presidential Office when the Chen administration was inaugurated. In July he became Vice-Premier, to replace the man who resigned to take responsibility for government incompetence after floods killed four persons.

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Section  : International
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