ˇ@Although Taiwan's women are receiving more and more recognition of their abilities in many areas, there are still many fields where the proportion of men and women is unbalanced and women are in the minority. In recent years, we in the women's movement have realized that one big issue is the dearth of women in leadership positions, especially in political life. In response to complaints, although nobody comes right out and says that women are bad leaders, we are often told that it takes time to build up enough talent, that we should be patient and that the day for female leadership will come soon.?

ˇ@I feel this attitude is misguided, because there are so many talented women who are already well qualified for the highest levels of leadership.

ˇ@Therefore, on this Women's Day, I want to express my wish that when the Womens' Day comes around next year, Taiwan will have set a world first by installing an all-female Cabinet to lead us into a new era. I sincerely call on all the presidential candidates to consider seriously the idea of forming an all-female Executive Yuan.

ˇ@This idea is not totally fanciful. In fact, I have drawn up a list of my favorite candidates for all the major ministries and councils of the Executive Yuan. The minor agencies (some of which should be abolished, anyway, such as the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission) could be allocated as positions for token men, after all, these are the positions they usually leave for token women nowadays!

ˇ@Here is my wish list:

• Minister of Foreign Affairs: Annette Lu ( Commissioner of Taoyuan County)

• Minister of the Interior: Chen Chu (director, Kaohsiung City Bureau of Social Affairs, former director of Taipei City Bureau of Social Affairs)

• Minister of Economic Affairs: Shirley Kuo (minister without portfolio, former minister of finance and chairwoman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development)

• Minister of Finance: Vivian W. Yen ( chairwoman, Yulon Motor Corp)

• Minister of National Defense: Yeh Chu-lan (three-term legislator, member of the legislature's defense committee)

• Minister of Justice: Lin Chu-chi (senior law professor)

• Minister of Education: Wong Chin-chu (three term legislator, member of the legislature's education committee)

• Minister of Transportation and Communications: Nita Ing (chairwoman of Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp)

• Minister of Culture : Chu Hui-liang (two-term legislator, member of the education committee)

• Director, Department of Health: Chang Wen-ying (Mayor of Taichung City, doctor)

• Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency: Liu Shih-fang (deputy commissioner of Taichung County, former director of the Taipei City Bureau of Environmental Protection)

• Chairwoman, Mainland Affairs Council: Fan Hsun-lu (two-term legislator)

• Chairwoman, Council for Economic Planning and Development: Lee Jih-chu (chairwoman, National Youth Commission; professor of finance)

• Chairwoman, Council on Agriculture: Chen Lai-hong ( founder and chairwoman, Homemakers Union and Foundation)

• Chairwoman, Council of Labor Affairs: Huang Chao-hsun (three term legislator)

• Chairwoman, Council of Aboriginal Affairs: Chang Jen-hsiang (two-term legislator, representing Plains Aborigines)

• Chairwoman, Research, Development and Evaluation Commission: Chang Fu-mei (member of the Control Yuan, former director of the Taipei City Commission for Examining Petitions and Appeals)

• Director, Government Information Office: Diane Ying (publisher, Commonwealth Publishing Group)

ˇ@And the premier? Since the political environment today is so complex and the government might not be able to count on majority support in the Legislative Yuan, I would suggest Chang Po-ya , who is not affiliated with any party and whose administrative experience is unparalleled (she served two terms as mayor of Chiayi and seven years as director-general of the Department of Health, before returning to Chiayi as mayor). If most people feel that we need a person like Lee Yuan-tseh who enjoys unparalleled social esteem and confidence, there is also a female alternative: Master Cheng Yen of the Tzu-chi Foundation. The pity is that like Dr Lee, she probably has no interest in serving.

ˇ@There will inevitably be a chorus of complaints about the composition of this list: Why have you included X but left out Y? You have concentrated only on your own side of the political spectrum? etc. I freely admit all of these errors. But these complaints only prove the fact that there are certainly more than enough excellent women available to lead our country. In fact, among such an abundance, choosing such a small number among them is a painful and difficult task.

ˇ@In any case, I think few objective observers could honestly say that they think this Cabinet would do any worse than the current one, and thus the point is made: the women of Taiwan are ready for government, today!

Chia-ching Hsu is the secretary-general of the League of Taiwan Women, deputy Chairwoman of TAPWR

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