The Democratic Progressive Party-led Cabinet renamed the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall on Wednesday in a continuation of its political campaign to erase any vestiges of the late president and opposition Kuomintang leader from contemporary society.
The move to change the name, however, sparked criticism from the KMT, which accused the administration of wasting valuable resources and overreaching its authority.

To change the name, the Cabinet unilaterally abolished the "Organic Act of National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Management Office" and passed an organic regulation renaming the park "Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall".

Cabinet spokeswoman Chen Mei-ling said Premier Su Tseng-chang （蘇貞昌） had already approved the new regulation on April 13, which lowered the administrative status of the hall by one tier to level four.

The regulatory status of the park is crucial because any change to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Halls organic act originally had to be approved by the Legislature.

But according to Chen, the 2004 "Basic Law of the Organization of Central Government Agencies" mandates that third and fourth tier government organizations can be governed by "organic regulations" that fall under the jurisdiction of the central government rather than by "organic acts," which require legislative approval.

Under questioning from reporters, Chen said that the legislative branch would have "no right to interfere" in the organic regulation governing the newly named park because it was now a fourth-tier government organization. She also insisted that the facility would "not be operating under two conflicting laws."

"The former CKS Memorial Hall Organic Act will not coexist with the current Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall organic regulation," she said.

Chen indicated that the organization now in charge of the hall - the Ministry of Education - will hang a new name plate on the facility after a new organic regulation is issued.

"The Ministry of Education considers the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall as the originating point of Taiwans social and student movements, so Taiwanese people can come here to commemorate Taiwans difficult road in becoming a democratic nation," Chen said at a press conference on Wednesday.

In the future, the park "will be seen as a showcase of Taiwans democratization," displaying related stories and historical materials and "promoting democratic education".

The Kuomintang responded to the move by reproaching the DPP administration for putting its political interests ahead of public interests.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin （郝龍斌） described the administrations decision as "careless". The Taipei City Government, he said, would have to waste more than NT$8 million to change the name on signs in nearby MRT stations and bus stops.

"The Legal Affairs Committee of the Taipei City Government will study the possibility of not changing the name of the signs in nearby MRT stations and bus stops," Hau added.

KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang （林郁方） said the name change was another unnecessary DPP step to remove any mention of former President Chiang Kai-shek from Taiwans history.

"The government should adopt proper policies to realize democracy, rather than constantly change the names of specific buildings," he said. "If changing the name of the CKS Memorial Hall could make Taiwan a more democratic country in substance, then I would support it. However, everyone knows that it （renaming） is symbolic and unrealistic," he concluded.

People First Party Legislator Chang Hsien-yao （張顯耀） argued that the administrations decision was unconstitutional.

"According to the Constitution, any administrative order that goes against an existing law is invalid. So if the Legislature has not yet abolished the organic act of the CKS Memorial Hall, which has the same legal status as law, the newly proposed organic regulation, which is an administrative order, is invalid."