Presidential Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun said this evening that President Chen Shui-bian backs the country's reforms in all fronts, including the six major ones unveiled by the president himself during the National Day address this year. The president is determined to carry out these reforms as Taiwan cannot afford to wait.
The presidential secretary-general said President Chen has been supportive to the legislative caucus of the Democratic Progressive Party as it debates whether the Presidential Office should retain senior advisors and National policy Advisors and discusses the revision of the Statute Governing Preferential Treatment to former Presidents and Vice Presidents. The president respects results reached by the DPP legislative caucus and will love to see the revision passed in the Legislature.
While some questioned why the Presidential Office has not proposed a revision of this code that regulates pension payments of former presidents and vice presidents, President Chen replied by saying that he has reduced his paycheck as soon as he was sworn in. The president added that he has no problem concerning payment as president and will respect and support any necessary change regarding the issue. However, the Presidential Office is not the authority in charge of the matter, said the president, and therefore any changes should be made by the Legislature and should be done according to the public opinion of the people.