Premier of the Republic of China
President of the Executive Yuan | |
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行政院院長 | |
US$121,500 annually[1] | |
Website | english |
President of the Executive Yuan | |
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Tâi-lô | Koh-kûi |
Taiwan portal |
The premier of the Republic of China, officially the president of the Executive Yuan (Chinese: 行政院院長), is the head of the government of the Republic of China of Taiwan and leader of the Executive Yuan. The premier is nominally the principal advisor to the president of the republic and positioned as the head of central government.
The predecessor of the president of the Executive Yuan was the prime minister of the Republic of China, and the first president of the Executive Yuan was Tan Yanqi; the first president after the constitution was Weng Wenhao; and the first president to take office after the government moved to power was Chen Cheng. Currently, the premier is appointed by the president[2] without approval by the Legislative Yuan.[3]
The current president of the Executive Yuan is incumbent Chen Chien-jen, who took office in his first term on 31 January 2023.
History
Prior to the establishment of the
Powers and responsibilities
The premier presides over the
In the event of vacancies in both the presidency and the vice presidency, the premier serves as acting president of the republic for up to three months.
One-third of the legislators may initiate a no-confidence vote against the premier. If approved with simple majority, the premier must resign from office within ten days and at the same time may request that the president dissolve the Legislative Yuan. If the motion fails, another no-confidence motion against the same premier cannot be initiated for one year. This power has never been used. In practice, the president has enough legitimacy and executive authority to govern in the face of a legislature controlled by the opposition, and would likely respond to a vote of no-confidence by nominating another person with similar views.
Premier as head of government
The Constitution of the Republic of China did not originally define strictly the relation between the premier and the president of the Republic and it was not clear whether the government would lean towards a presidential system or parliamentary system when divided. Power shifted to Premier Chiang Ching-kuo after President Chiang Kai-shek's death but shifted to the presidency again when Chiang Ching-kuo became president. After President Lee Teng-hui succeeded Chiang as president in 1988, the power struggle within the Kuomintang extended to the constitutional debate over the relationship between the president and the premier. The first three premiers under Lee, Yu Kuo-hwa, Lee Huan and Hau Pei-tsun, were mainlanders who had initially opposed Lee's ascension to power. The appointment of Lee and Hau were compromises by President Lee to placate the conservative mainlander faction in the party. The subsequent appointment of premier Lien Chan was taken as a sign of Lee's consolidation of power. Moreover, during this time, the power of the premier to approve the president's appointments and the power of the Legislative Council to confirm the president's choice of premier was removed (out of fears that the Democratic Progressive Party would one day gain control of the legislature), clearly establishing the president as the more powerful position of the two.
The relationship between the premier and the legislature again became a contentious issue after the
See also
- List of premiers of the Republic of China
- President of the Republic of China
- Politics of the Republic of China
- Elections in the Republic of China
References
- ISBN 9780857248206– via Google Books.
- ^ "Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan)-Structure & Functions". Archived from the original on 2014-04-29. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
- ^ 葉耀元 (21 February 2015). "總統制、半總統制、內閣制?台灣到底需要什麼樣的憲政框架?". 菜市場政治學. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
External links
- Media related to Premiers of the Republic of China at Wikimedia Commons