Tsai urges leaders to push ahead with reform agenda

Staff writer, with CNA

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Sunday held a meeting with top executive and legislative leaders and ruling party mayors of four municipalities, urging them to push ahead with the government’s major policy initiatives, including reform of the nation’s pension system.

The meeting came on the heels of a mass rally a day earlier of retired and active civil servants, public-school teachers and military personnel, who vented their anger at being “stigmatized” over their seemingly fat pensions.

Tsai asked Cabinet members, and legislative and local government leaders to help speed up the reform of the pension system as the public has high hopes of its success.

“We must make sure that our pension system is sustainable and that every member of the public can enjoy a quality retirement,” Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) quoted Tsai as saying.

Tsai urged the party caucus and the executive to help gather ideas and proposals for the presidential task force on pension reform so a consensus on the contentious issue could be reached as early as possbile, Huang said.

With a new session of the Legislative Yuan scheduled to begin soon, Tsai also called for progress on priority bills on social housing and long-term care for senior citizens.

The central government’s budget and the approval of the Judicial Yuan nominees for president and vice president, as well as nominees for grand justices, are also urgent business for the legislative branch, Tsai said.

“Our team must redouble its efforts to push ahead with major reform programs and the legislative agenda, making it known to the public what we are doing, the progress of our agenda and when it will be completed,” she said. “In short, we must do our best to communicate with all sectors of society to gain the people’s understanding and earn their trust.”

During the meeting, participants gave their full support and appreciation to the premier, vice premier and Cabinet chief secretary for their hard work over the past three months, Huang said.