Ex-finance minister appointed as Taiwan's future PM

Taipei: Taiwan`s President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), on Tuesday appointed Lin Chuan, a former finance minister, as the nation`s future prime minister.

In a press conference, Tsai said Lin is a person "with strong communication and problem solving skills" and promised that with the help of Lin "the people`s trust in the government will recover", EFE news reported.

Lin does not belong to any political party, although he was finance minister between late 2002 and early 2006 during the presidency of Chen Shui-bian, also of the DPP.

He is currently executive director of the New Frontier Foundation, composed of experts and chaired by Tsai, and played an important role in the campaign of the president-elect.

The appointment of Lin has been expected since Tsai and the DPP won in the presidential and legislative elections on January 16.

It has also been interpreted as a sign of the incoming government`s commitment to ideological moderation and an emphasis on the economy.