Taiwan "premier" stays in office, two "ministers" resign
( 2002-11-25 12:38 ) ()

Taiwan "Premier" Yu Shyi-kun said Sunday he would stay in office two days after he offered to resign amid a row about delayed changes to the shaky farm and fish credit system, but he agreed to let two of his "cabinet members" go.

Yu accepted the resignation of "Finance Minister" Lee Yung-san and Fan Chen-tsung, chairman of the Council of Agriculture, one day after more than 100,000 farmers and fishermen protested against plans to reform the farm/fish credit co-operatives.

It was not immediately known who would replace the two men, who took office in February.

Taiwan postponed reforms of agricultural co-operatives last week, but farmers want the reforms scrapped altogether and took to the streets of the capital on Saturday in protest.

The cooperatives, which make up only a small part of Taiwan's financial system, are plagued by soaring non-performing loans and analysts worry the delay could signal weakening government resolve to tackle larger, more important reforms.

Opponents of credit controls argue they will lead to the disappearance of the agricultural co-operatives, often the only source of funding for poor farmers and fishermen.

"Premier" Yu Shyi-kun himself offered to step down over the issue but on Saturday he agreed to stay in office at the request of "President" Chen Shui-bian. "The president told me that a stable cabinet is important for continuous reforms, therefore I accept the president's request to remain in office," Yu told reporters.

Chen's approval rating had slumped to near record lows of 36-38 percent after the controversial policy was announced, compared with 80 percent when he took office in 2000. His four-year term ends in May 2004.

The delay in the planned reforms led to four straight days of declines on the stock market before it rebounded on Friday. The farmers' march is particularly embarrassing to Chen, who ended 55 years of Nationalist Party rule in the 2000 elections, due in part to his appeal as a man of the people from impoverished tenant-farmer roots.

Bankers say the delay in reforms would make it more difficult for the government to convince Taiwan lawmakers to increase a planned bank rescue fund by T$910 billion (US$26 billion) to T$1.05 trillion to help clear out bad debt.