Lai Ching-te (賴清德, right)
Taipei, Sept. 6 (CNA) Premier-designate Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Wednesday confirmed acting Economics Minister Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) will become his economics minister, and and Lin Feng-jeng (林峯正), an advisor to the National Security Council, will chair the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee.
Lai continued to meet with senior government officials throughout the day as he organized his Cabinet. He was appointed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) the previous day to succeed Lin Chuan (林全) as premier, after Lin submitted his resignation.
The Lin Cabinet is scheduled to resign en masse on Thursday, and Lai's will be sworn in the following day.
On Wednesday, the premier-designate also said that National Development Council (NDC) deputy chief Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) will be Shen's deputy, while Taiwan Institute of Economic Research Vice President Chiou Jiunn-rong (邱俊榮) will fill the vacancy left by Kung.
Lai has already named Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp. (TWSE) Chairman Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) as his vice premier; Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶), the incumbent secretary-general of the Cabinet, to head the NDC; and ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) to succeed Chen as the next Cabinet secretary-general.
Also already confirmed is Wellington Koo (顧立雄), chairman of the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, who will become chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission.
Lai said he wants to "recruit people based on their talents" and that stability is the underlying principle of his adjustment of the Cabinet lineup.
"Fighting for economic development" is the focus of the new Cabinet, he noted, adding that therefore, his invitation to Shih to be his deputy, Chiu to serve as deputy chief of the NDC and Kung to enter the Ministry of Economic Affairs was based on his hope of boosting the strength of economic leadership.
At a DPP Central Standing Committee meeting earlier in the day, Tsai, who doubles as the party's chairwoman, said she expects the new lineup to be efficient in executing policies and communicating with the people.
Tsai reiterated that the future direction of her administration will shift from planning to policy implementation.
(By Lu Hsin-hui, Claudia Liu and Elizabeth Hsu)
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