By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) yesterday reiterated that his current job will be his last one as a public servant, a comment viewed as an indirect refusal to become Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) running mate in January’s presidential election.
The 72-year-old has been widely speculated as Tsai’s top choice for vice presidential nominee.
Peng’s six-point statement, issued by the central bank, came as a response to a story in the latest edition of the Chinese-language Next Magazine, which was published yesterday.
The magazine said Perng had met with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who had been asked by Tsai to persuade Perng to join her ticket, on Aug. 20. It said Perng had told Lee that he would very much like to see Tsai win the presidency.
Perng confirmed that he had met with Lee, but denied that he had voiced support for Tsai during his talk with Lee.
He also denied the magazine’s claim that he had complained to Lee about interference from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) over the bank’s monetary policy.
DPP spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) declined to confirm the magazine’s claims, saying only that “Tsai has frequently met with Lee because she served under the former president and the two has always enjoyed great relationship.”
Former minister of finance Lin Chuan (林全) and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) both said they will not be Tsai’s running mate.