Vice Premier Chang San-cheng has taken over the reigns as Taiwan’s premier.
At a handover ceremony on Monday morning, Chang said that his premiership would be the shortest and most stressful in Taiwan’s history. That’s because he will only be in office for the final three months of President Ma Ying-jeou’s term in office. A new premier will take office with the inauguration of President-elect Tsai Ing-wen on May 20.
Chang said that his premiership would be similar to running the last leg in a relay race. He said that all eyes would be on him, and that he would do his best to leave a positive impression. He also urged Tsai’s party – the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), to hit the ground running.
“Not only will the Cabinet need to finish the last leg of the race in style, [the next Cabinet] will also need to start running, and give it their best effort in order to ensure the best handover in history," said Chang.
Outgoing Premier Mao Chi-kuo spoke at Monday’s handover about his reason for stepping down at this juncture. He said that he wanted to show the people of Taiwan the necessity of allowing the majority party in the legislature to choose the premier and form the Cabinet.
The question of who has the right to form the Cabinet has become a hot topic in Taiwan with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) winning its first-ever majority in the legislature in January. That’s because the nation’s constitution does not clarify who has that power. Prior to the current legislative session, only the Kuomintang has had a majority in the legislature.
President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, who is also from the DPP, has declined an offer from President Ma to choose a premier and form a Cabinet now. She has decided, instead, to wait until she takes office on May 20.