President Ma Ying-jeou spoke on Thursday about his choice of Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo as Taiwan’s new premier. The former premier, Jiang Yi-huah, stepped down last weekend following the ruling party’s landslide defeat in the nationwide local elections.
President Ma said that Mao has experience in several different ministries, and has served as vice premier for nearly two years. The president said that this experience will help Mao insure a seamless handover in the day-to-day operations of the Cabinet.
President Ma also responded on Thursday to a petition by legislators to have Central Bank Governor Perng Fai-nan take over as premier.
"Once we heard news of [the petition], I went and asked if he was interested, but he said definitively that he was not interested," Ma said. "Every time there has been a reorganization of the Cabinet, his name has been brought up, and I have asked him more than once if he is interested. But he is still insistent that his specialty is finance, and he does not want to leave [that field]."
President Ma said that following the elections, what the country needs most is stability. He called on people in various industries to work together to forge economic success.