Lin Yao-tang

In this Monsilvan name, the family name is Lin.

His Excellency Lin Yao-tang
林曜汤
File:Lin Yao-tang 林曜湯.jpg Official portrait, 2023
23rd Prime Minister of Monsilva
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 June 2023
President	Chiu Zan
Deputy	Yuen Lim Wong Seon-lai Li Zhi-ming
Preceded by	Xu Yan
Leader of the Opposition
In office 30 May 2019 – 20 June 2023
President	Chiu Zan
Prime Minister	Xu Yan
Preceded by	Su Tao
Succeeded by	Bao Hsueh
Leader of the Freedom and Democracy Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 May 2019
Preceded by	Su Tao
Minister for Defense
In office 24 September 2012 – 20 August 2016
Prime Minister	Lee Su
Preceded by	He Chuntao
Succeeded by	Shen Xiaotong
Shadow cabinet offices Shadow Minister for the Treasury In office 4 Februray 2017 – 30 May 2019 Leader Su Tao Preceded by Lei Feng Succeeded by Chang Qiu Shadow Minister for Defense In office 20 August 2016 – 4 February 2017 Leader Su Tao Preceded by Shen Xiaotong Succeeded by Qian Jiayi
Member of the Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 June 2023
Constituency	Waiping
Other parliamentary offices Member of the Legislative Assembly for Waiping South In office 9 July 2012 – 18 June 2023 Preceded by Suen Shi-huang Succeeded by Constituency abolished Member of the Legislative Assembly for Shuanglong In office 15 August 2004 – 9 July 2012 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Yang Longwei
Member of the Wuzhong State Parliament
In office 18 May 1996 – 15 May 2004
Constituency	Suzhou
Personal details
Born	(1965-06-12) 12 June 1965 Wodai, Kingdom of Monsilva
Political party	FDP (1992–present)
Other political affiliations	Liberal Party (1983–1992)
Spouse(s)	Wu Chun-hua (m. 1994)
Children	2
Parents	Lin Jianyu (father)
Relatives	Lin Tao (brother)
Residence	Official Residence of the Prime Minister of Monsilva
Alma mater	University of Wodai (MSc)

Lin Yao-tang (Monsilvan: 林曜汤; born 12 June 1965) is a Monsilvan politician who has served as prime minister of Monsilva since 2023. Lin has also served as leader of the Freedom and Democracy Party since 2019. Before he was elected as prime minister in the 2023 federal election, he served as the leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Monsilva. Lin has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Waiping since 2023, having previously served as MP for Shuanglong from 2004 to 2012 and Waiping South from 2012 to 2023.

Lin was born in the city of Wodai in June 1965 in the Kingdom of Monsilva. He studied international relations at the University of Wodai, where he joined the Liberal Party of Monsilva as part of the Liberal Youth Organization. In 1992, Lin left the Liberal Party and joined the Freedom and Democracy Party. He worked as a civil servant for the Wuzhong State Government from 1988 until 1996, when he was selected as a candidate for Suzhou in the 1996 Wuzhong state election. He was successfully elected and remained a member of the Wuzhong State Parliament until 2004. Lin chose not to run for re-election in the 2004 Wuzhong state election, and was instead selected as the candidate for Shuanglong in the 2004 federal election. He won the constituency with a large majority, and began his parliamentary career. Lin was an active ordinary member of the legislative assembly from 2004 to 2012. He would often contribute to discussions on Monsilva's military, foreign affairs, and economy. He was a member of the Joint Committee on the Economy and was the head of the Joint Committee on Defense from 2008 to 2012.

Following the 2012 federal election and the election of Lee Su as prime minister, Lin was appointed as the minister for defense in Lee's cabinet. As minister for defense, Lin oversaw major reforms to the Monsilvan Armed Forces and increased involvement of Monsilva in ACES military exercises. At the 2016 federal election, although he maintained a large majority in his seat, Lin's party lost the election. The newly elected leader of the FDP, Su Tao, appointed Lin as the shadow minister for defense in his shadow cabinet. In February 2017, the shadow minister for the treasury, Lei Feng resigned from his cabinet position after a disagreement with Su. Lin was chosen to replace Lei, and Qian Jiayi took Lin's place as shadow defense minister. As shadow treasury minister, Lin was critical of treasury minister Wan Liang's economic policies, particularly during the 2018 housing crisis, and was one of many who successfully encouraged him to resign in January 2019. In March 2019, Su resigned as leader of the FDP following a scandal involving multiple senior members of the party. Lin was nominated at the resulting leadership election, which Lin accepted. He was elected as leader of the FDP with an overwhelming majority of 44 per cent ahead of Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shi Meilin. The first year of Lin's time as opposition leader was spent recovering from the scandal and reforming the party in an attempt to regain its popularity. Lin led the FDP into the 2020 federal election, where, although it gained seats, it failed to gain more than the leading Reformed National Party.

Lin's popularity increased during Prime Minister Xu Yan's second term, and he led the Democratic Coalition to a victory at the 2023 federal election, resulting in him becoming Monsilva's twenty-third prime minister on 20 June 2023. As prime minister, one of Lin's first focuses was on the recognition of Shaoyu as Monsilvan territory and later on the OU military intervention in Shaoyu and the island's accession to Monsilva as its fifteenth state. His domestic policies have focused on the environment, homelessness, crime, and economic stagnation. At the 2025 federal election his party faced a notable loss of seats, but still managed to maintain the most seats, leading to a second FDP-led government. Lin's controverisal new coalition with the Liberal Party and Innovate Monsilva, as opposed to the usual coalition partners (Green Party and SDP), upon the conclusion of the election is the first FDP-Liberal coalition government since Suen Shi-huang and Kong Tsai's coalition government which lasted from 1996, until its collapse in 2000.

Early life and education

Lin Yao-tang was born on 12 June 1965 in Wodai, in what was then known as Guangsu Prefecture in the Kingdom of Monsilva. He was the first child of Lin Jianyu and Fu Shu. His younger brother and only sibling, investigative journalist Lin Tao, was born in 1969. Lin's father was a politician and Member of the Royal Parliament from 1965 to 1970 and 1980 to 1992 as a member of the Liberal Party. His mother was a nurse at Wodai University Hospital. Both of Lin's parents were firmly against the regime led by Shao Yaoting during the Monsilvan Revolution in the 1970s, but due to his father's history as a politician, they chose not to publicly display their disdain in order to protect their family.

Lin studied at Rengu High School, where he joined the school's debating society. He claims that his time in this society is what really encouraged him to get interested in politics. Following in his father's footsteps, Lin chose to apply to study international relations at the University of Wodai. Whilst at university, he joined the Liberal Youth Organization, the youth and student branch of the Liberal Party. He was an active member and became a member of the organization's executive committee in 1986. As a member of the executive committee, he met with the party's leader, Qiang Kang, who said he "debates effectively and persuasively" and "comes out on top, even against the toughest opposition". As a member of the Liberal Party, Lin campaigned for the recognition of same-sex unions in Wuzhong, as well as for the legalization of recreational cannabis. He also campaigned against the Street Safety Act 1985 and the Malevolent Communications Act 1988, which he organized and took part in protests outside the Parliament for.

Employment and early political career (1987–2012)

Career in the civil service (1987–1996)

In autumn 1987, after graduating from the University of Wodai with a master's degree in international relations, Lin applied and was accepted to begin working for the civil service. As a member of the civil service, Lin worked for the Wuzhong State Government's department of finance. In 1992, after being displeased with the direction the Liberal Party was taking in certain policies and believing the party's leadership to be appeasing the right-wing more than he was comfortable with, Lin joined the FDP. In 1993, he was promoted to be a personal assistant to the Wuzhong minister for finance. In 1995, he met with Luo Dong, the premier of Wuzhong, who strongly encouraged Lin to put himself up for candidacy to be elected to the Wuzhong State Parliament at the 1996 Wuzhong state election. Lin resigned from the civil service later that year after he was selected as a candidate for the constituency of Suzhou at the next state election.

Member of the Wuzhong State Parliament (1996–2004)

Lin was successfully voted in for Suzhou at the 1996 Wuzhong state election, and was also first on the party-list, meaning as a candidate he won more votes than any of his fellow party candidates. As a junior member, Lin was not appointed to any cabinet positions in the state government, however, he did join several joint committees in the state parliament, where he established his interests on the issues surrounding the military as well as finanaces. He also joined the state parliament's join committee on education, but he was only a member for one year.

As a member of the Wuzhong State Parliament's joint committee on finance, Lin grew a reputation for presenting pragmatic responses during debates amongst the committee's members. A fellow FDP member of the committee, Yin Guozhi, said that Lin would "present arguments in favor of the opposition parties to make you believe he was changing sides, before gradually making their argument's weaknesses known". He developed a noticeable reputation in only a few years of him being a member of the state parliament. In 1999, Leader of the State Opposition, Zheng Geming, said "I wouldn't be surprised if Lin is sitting at the head of the Great Hall in less than a decade".

In 2003, Lin decided he wanted to move up in his political career, and announced he would not be running for candidacy in the next Wuzhong state election and would instead be campaigning to be elected a member of the Legislative Assembly in the 2004 federal election. In March 2004, he was chosen as the FDP's candidate for Shuanglong constituency for the 2004 federal election.

Ordinary member of the Legislative Assembly (2004–2012)

Although Shuanglong was considered an FDP safe seat, Lin still chose to campaign thoroughly in the constituency. His campaign was focused on a policy of "people over party". He used his reputation in the Wuzhong State Parliament to demonstrate his strong debating capabilities and claimed he would use these "in the interests of Shuanglong constituents". He was successfully elected at the 2004 election with a significant majority and a swing of over 5 per cent of the vote.

For the first 8 years of his tenure as a member of the Legislative Assembly, Lin remained an ordinary member. However, he would still frequently contribute to discussions, particularly in reference to social issues, the economy, and issues regarding the Monsilvan Armed Forces. He joined the Joint Committee on the Economy and the Joint Committee on Defense, which he later became the head of from 2008 to 2012. He was a strong advocate for the Open Military Service Act 2008, which permitted LGBT persons to openly serve in the military, and the Anti-Discrimination Act 2011, which criminalized discrimination based on topics such as race, sex, disabilities, and religion. After the 2008 federal election, Lin was given the opportunity to become a member of Prime Minister Suen Shi-huang's fourth cabinet, but he declined. Lin has never explicitly revealed why he declined the opportunity, with some speculating he did not want to serve under Suen Shi-huang, while others say he simply did not feel ready and wanted to wait another term.

In May 2012, Lee Su, who was elected as Suen's successor for the 2012 federal election, nominated Lin to be a member of his cabinet. While the position Lee would give him was not publicly announced at the time, Lin did announce that he had accepted Lee's nomination and would be serving in his cabinet should he win, or in his shadow cabinet should he lose. In June, it was publicly announced that Lee had selected Lin to serve as the minister for defense in his cabinet.

Political career as a minister (2012–2019)

Minister for Defense (2012–2016)

Lin at a cabinet meeting as minister for defense in 2014

Lee Su won the 2012 federal election, and as announced, he appointed Lin to be the minister for defense. As minister for defense, Lin was adamant on reforming the Monsilvan Armed Forces. He believed that the armed forces were taking money and "not outputting the level of results a military with that budget should". While he initially stated he would lower the budget for the armed forces soon after the election, he later said in February 2013 that he would instead be employing an independent body to identify misspending of the military budget and any traces of corruption. In September 2013, Lin announced that some senior members of the Monsilvan Armed Forces had been sitting on inflated salaries, while the money being spent on training and equipment was much lower. He followed this announcement with a review of military salaries and the budget.

Shadow Minister for Defense (2016–2017)

In the 2016 federal election, the Lee was unsuccessful in leading the FDP into a sixth consecutive electoral victory. While Lin retained a large majority in his constituency, as his party was no longer in government he was not able to continue as minister for defense. Lee resigned following his loss, and was succeeded by Su Tao. Su introduced his shadow cabinet in September 2016, appointing Lin as the shadow minister for defense. Lin was highly critical of his successor as minister for defense, Shen Xiaotong, who he believed was not fit for the position. In January 2016, during a parliamentary session, Lin was disciplined by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for frequently interrupting Shen during one of his speeches with corrections to what he was saying. When asked about why he violated the parliamentary code during the speech, Lin said, "Mr. Shen's nonsense was getting on my nerves".

In February 2017, Lei Feng, the shadow minister for the treasury, got into an argument with Su over an economic policy Su was adamant in implementing that Lei insisted was a bad idea. While apparently Lei did manage to convince Su that the policy was not a good idea, he chose to resign from his cabinet position by the end of the month. This led to Lee requesting Lin to succeed Lei and become the Shadow Minister for the Treasury. Lin accepted and nominated one of his deputy defense ministers, Qian Jiayi, to replace him as minister for defense.

Shadow Minister for the Treasury (2017–2019)

Lin giving a speech at a conference in 2017 as newly appointed shadow minister for the treasury

As shadow minister for the treasury, Lin was responsible for criticizing the actions of the government's minister for the treasury, Wan Liang. The two politicians frequently clashed over economic decisions throughout 2017, however the most conflict between the two was in 2018, during the Monsilvan housing crisis. Lin criticized Wan, claiming he was responsible for poor financial decisions by the government, which resulted in the mishandling of Monsilva's real estate. He also presented evidence that Wan and other members of the cabinet had neglected several warnings regarding homelessness and unemployment from their departments, which could have avoided a large portion of the damage caused during the crisis.

In late 2018, Lin encouraged Wan to resign from his position, saying "it's in your best interest to save face and resign before you destroy your reputation any further". In an interview in November 2018, he said "the decisions from the government's treasury department are outrageously foolish, and that's because they're led by a spendthrift". In January 2019, Wan resigned as minister for the treasury. When Lin was asked for his response to Wan's resignation, he said, "Mr. Wen wasn't a bad person, he was just the wrong person".

Alongside Lin's rivalry with Wan, the FDP had been struggling with a major fraud scandal which involved many senior members of the party, including some cabinet ministers. Lin expressed disappointment in the ministers responsible when asked for his response to the scandal, but he mentioned no names, and insisted that he was not involved nor knew about it. Following the last minister to resign or be suspended due to the scandal, Su Tao chose to resign as leader of the FDP in March 2019, triggering a leadership election.

Leadership election (March–May 2019)

Lin was nominated as the first potential candidate for party leadership following the announcement of the election. Lin accepted his nomination and began his leadership campaign on 22 March. Lin gained support from many senior members of the FDP, including Lee Su, Zhong Guowei, Qian Jiayi and former prime minister Suen Shi-huang. The only other nomination for party leader, and therefore Lin's only competition, was the current Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shi Meilin. Lin maintained during his leadership campaign that he would continue most of the party's existing policies, but would also focus on "repairing" the party after the scandal earlier in the year. Shi received noticeably fewer parliamentary supporters than Lin did, and was at no point during the campaign expected to have a chance of beating him. Shi was reported to have congratulated Lin before the results were fully announced. Lin won the leadership election with 72.4% of the vote.

Opposition leadership (2019–2023)

Lin became Leader of the Opposition following one of the largest scandals in his party's history. He had only one year before the next federal election to repair his party's significantly damaged reputation and show that it was worth voting for. As Opposition Leader, Lin was responsible for criticizing choices made by Prime Minister Xu Yan. In August 2019, Lin criticized Xu for announcing that he would reform Monsilva's electoral system again should he be re-elected in 2020, claiming that if Xu really wanted electoral reform, he had "plenty of time to implement it now". He also called Xu Yan's Representative System for Shaoyu Act 2018 "half-hearted" and "the bare minimum", saying that Shaoyu "deserves greater representation than a few people not from Shaoyu sitting in a room unable to vote on anything".

First shadow cabinet

Lin's first shadow cabinet directly succeeded that of Su Tao, with any ministers that had not been involved in the scandal retaining their shadow ministerial positions. However, noticeable appointments were: appointing Chang Qui as his successor as shadow minister for the treasury and re-appointing former minister for transport under Lee, Wang Ya, back as shadow minister for transport. He also appointed Tao Xiao-qing as shadow minister for education, as the role had been vacant beforehand.

2020 federal election

In the upcoming months before the 2020 federal election, Lin ran an intense campaign in an attempt to decrease Xu Yan's very high approval ratings. The opinion polling suggested Xu Yan would still win this election, but Lin repeatedly assured his party's supporters that they still had a chance. He used Xu's weak promises during his campaign as leverage and demonstrated how he could improve on or completely change Xu's campaign promises. Lin's campaign was praised by his supporters, and the FDP's vote and seat share did increase. However, the FDP was not able to secure the majority of the seats, and Xu began his second term with a minority government. Despite his loss, Lin still remained confident and announced that he would not resign as party leader, and that he will "demonstrate to those who are skeptical that I can stand for what they care about and make a difference".

Second shadow cabinet

Lin during a speech at Amking Nanguan Hospital by newly appointed shadow minister for health and care, Mo Qiao

As Lin's first shadow cabinet had only lasted one year, very few changes were made. The most obvious changes, were the removals of Feng Zixin as deputy leader of the opposition and Tan You as shadow minister for health and care, as they lost their seats at the previous elections. They were replaced by Zhao Yi and Mo Qiao respectively.

Local election results

Although the FDP's results in the 2019 and 2020 state and local elections were relatively stagnant, its unprecedented successes in 2021 and 2022 demonstrated Lin's growing popularity amongst the populace. Lin referred to these results on multiple occasions as evidence of his growing success, and claimed to Xu Yan that it demonstrated a form of "no confidence vote" in his leadership. Particularly as he had failed to bring about his promise in 2019 to reform Monsilva's electoral process.

During the FDP's campaign for the 2023 state and local elections, Lin announced that, in an agreement with the Liberal Party, he would be introducing an act into parliament to reform Monsilva's electoral process. He claimed that "the people wanted electoral reform when they elected Xu, but since he won't do it, I will". Following this statement, Xu responded by saying that he will resign as leader of the Reformed National Party if the act passes.

2023 federal election

Lin's promised electoral reform act was introduced to parliament on 10 March 2023 by Liberal Party leader Gao Jingyi. It was strongly criticized by Xu Yan and his government, but many of his fellow party members demonstrated that they somewhat supported the act. This resulted in numerous suspensions of RNP party members who said they will vote for the act against the wish of the government. The Electoral Reform Act was passed by a majority of 25 on 16 March 2023. This led to Xu Yan resigning as leader and announcing a snap federal election to be held in June.

During the campaign for the election, Bao Hsueh was chosen as Xu's successor as leader of the RNP. Bao was relatively unknown by most members of the RNP, as he had not previously served in any cabinet positions. He also developed a reputation of being shy and generally unfit to lead. This allowed Lin to campaign with little effort, and announcing his manifesto as "the things that will happen in the next four years". He used the electoral reform act to demonstrate how he won't let big changes "stop him from improving the country".

Lin's Democratic Coalition won the election by a majority of 2 seats, but with a vote majority of 18.6 per cent.

Premiership (2023–present)

Lin in the reception of the Presidential Office Building, preparing to be sworn in as prime minister by President Chiu Zan

Lin Yao-tang was officially elected as Prime Minister of Monsilva on 20 June 2023. He returned the FDP to government after 7 years, after it had already served for 20 years from 1996 to 2016. This statistic gave the FDP the title as "Monsilva's Party of the 21st Century" by several media outlets. This title being a comparison to the book Monsilva's Party of the 20th Century about the Reformed National Party, which served as the leading party in Monsilva for 40 consecutive years in the first half of the 20th century (1913–1953) and another 18 in the second half (1978–1996). After he was sworn in by the president, he chose to meet supporters outside the building and walk down the promenade to the Great Hall of Amking.

First Term (2023–2025)

Cabinet

Lin's cabinet was selected from 20–23 July, with its first meeting on the 24 July. The cabinet's composition was similar to his second shadow cabinet. He appointed Yuen Lim, leader of the Green Party, as the deputy prime minister, and kept Wang Ya as minister for transport, making him one of the very few ministers to serve two non-consecutive terms separated by a cabinet led by the opposition. He also appointed parliamentary veterans Fan Rong and Yu Boqin as minister for the interior and minister for business, respectively.

Alongside his ministerial appointments, Lin also appointed many non-members of parliament to serve as advisors and experts to several of the government's departments. The Department for the Treasury and the Department for Transport saw the most of these new appointments. While some were skeptical of appointing non-parliamentary figures to these positions, Lin justified his decision by saying "most of the people in parliament are experts in politics, not the focuses of these departments". He then continued with, "of course many of them are experts in other stuff too, but wouldn't you want someone advising a government department who's dedicated their whole life to something, or someone who has that as just their 'side-hustle'?".

On 7 December 2024, Yuen Lim resigned from cabinet citing disagreements between him and the cabinet over the 2025 budget which was being drafted by the Treasury Minister. He was succeeded as leader of the Green Party by Wong Seon-lai, who also became the next deputy prime minister.

Shaoyu policy

Lin meeting former University of San Kong Chancellor George Yuan in December 2023

Shaoyu was one of Lin's leading topics during his campaign for the 2023 election. Only a few days after becoming prime minister, Lin chose to officially recognize Shaoyu as a territory of Monsilva. Although this was met by some backlash by opposition politicians as he had not consulted parliament, he claimed that that was unnecessary, as the RSSI Act passed by Xu Yan five years earlier had already given the provisions to make that announcement. The announcement was generally met with positivity from Monsilvans, but many were skeptical that this announcement would bring war to Monsilva. The announcement was responded to by the Zloveshchiyan government, who determined it to be "empty" and "foolish". Lin also consulted the Monsilvan representatives in the Ostlandet Union to encourage action relating to Shaoyu in the Council of Ostlandet. On 5 July 2023, Lin publicly announced that he had put forward a proposal for a referendum pertaining to the future of Shaoyu as either a part of Monsilva, independent, or remaining a part of Zloveshchiy. After the Council of Ostlandet permitted a referendum to be held, Lin claimed it to be a victory and praised the delegations and governments of countries that had voted for the referendum.

On 24 August 2023, Lin was accompanied by the Director of the Secret Intelligence Service, Yang Zi-cheng, and President Chiu Zan in front of the Great Hall where he announced the discovery of undisputed evidence that a systematic killing had occurred on Shaoyu carried out by the Zloveshchiyan administration. Following his announcement, President Chiu declared that Lin's government had given an ultimatum to the Zloveshchiyan government demanding that should they not relinquish administration of Shaoyu to the Ostlandet Union, they would face a military intervention. His government's ultimatum was made with mixed responses, while many people and members of parliament showed support, such as Gao Jingyi who stated that "he has displayed strength and conviction and has made these difficult decisions for the sake of the Shaoyunese people", many others believed Lin had rushed the situation and could be putting Monsilva and its people at risk.

On 26 August, Lin's government announced that the Zloveshchiyan administration rejected the ultimatum, and therefore the Ostlandet Union was preparing a OU task force which would invade Shaoyu. The OU military intervention in Shaoyu, led by the new task force, which included the Monsilvan Armed Forces led by Chief of Defense Ren Yan, who had been appointed during Lin's reformation of the military leadership in 2014 when he was minister for defense. On 30 September 2023, Lin announced that the OU military intervention had ended and that an OU mandate was being established. He appointed Feinuo Ziming, leader of the Shaoyu Liberation Party and former member of the FDP and head of the Joint Committee for Shaoyu since 2012. She had been present throughout Lin's campaign for leadership and during the 2023 election campaign, representing his position on Shaoyu as a territory of Monsilva. Feinuo would later become the first premier of Shaoyu in 2024 after the mandate ended and Shaoyu was admitted as the fifteenth state of Monsilva.

Girisko free state status

Less than a year after the admission of Shaoyu as Monsilva's fifteenth state, the government of Girisko gave notice to the Monsilvan government that a significant movement for the re-unification between Girisko and Monsilva, after fifty years of Giriskonese independence, was growing. Lin stated that he was "in soft approval" of Girisko re-uniting with Monsilva, but explicit that it must only happen if a referendum asking Giriskonese citizens passes. Most of the opposition in parliament was tentatively opposed to Girisko being admitted. Bao Hsueh disagreed with Lin's approval, saying it would result in significant administrative expenses, which were already high enough for Shaoyu, which he referred to as a "blank slate" and "easier to spend on".

In January 2025, an outline was presented by the Guishan Commonwealth Council, which presented the possible outcomes of a successful admission of Girisko as a free state of Monsilva. The outline was overwhelmingly accepted in the Giriskonese legislative bumon, and by Lin's government. Lin rebutted Bao's earlier comments by describing the Guishan Council's outline as "proof that Girisko would be far more an advantage than a disadvantage to Monsilva". The Girisko Accession Act 2025 was introduced in February 2025 by Lin's government, and was passed by the Monsilvan parliament on 15 March 2025, the same day as the 2025 Girisko free state referendum. Girisko joined Monsilva as a free state in April 2025. During this process, Lin's approval in the polls sank, as people complained he was "acting without the consultation of Monsilvans".

Domestic policy

Domestically, Lin said that his primary focuses as prime minister would be on the environment, homelessness, growing crime in Monsilva's cities, and the economic stagnation faced by many of the country's industries. All of these issues had been mentioned in the FDP's 2023 election manifesto. On 2 July, his twelfth day as prime minister, he announced his first domestic policy which would be introducing the Yingchan Housing Plan, which allowed the construction of an "affordable housing network" down the Yingchan River in Meixian. The plan had previously been approved by the Meixian State Parliament in 2022, but as it required additional funding from the federal government, the plan needed parliamentary approval which Xu Yan's government had postponed.

When Shaoyu was admitted as a state in January 2024, Chen Jiang, Minister for the Environment, stated that the government will be assisting the Shaoyu State Government in focusing on rebuilding the state's energy industry with a focus on renewable energy sources. This came alongside multiple other renewable energy plans introduced by the state governments of Huachang and Bazhong.

Foreign policy

File:Lin Yao-tang speech in Baltanla.jpg

Lin giving a speech in Baltanla after his meeting with Quốc Phi Nguyễn

Lin's first foreign meeting as Prime Minister was with the Baltanese Head of the Federation, Quốc Phi Nguyễn on 29 June 2023 during his state visit to Baltanla. He later met with other leaders of the members of the Ostlandet Union, during which he mentioned his government's commitment to its membership of both the Ostlandet Union and ACES.

In October 2023, Lin announced that the Monsilvan government will diplomatically support the government of Vozrozhdeniye led by Anastasiya Belyayeva. He reiterated his support after the commencement of the Zloveshchiyan Civil War later in the month. On 5 May 2024, he congratulated New Illyrian Grand Marshall of the Union Luçeo Mareo on his success in the 2024 New Illyrian congressional election and thanked him for "steering New Illyricum in the right direction" after Mareo announced the New Illyrian government's recognition of the Akvatika Island genocide. On 15 July, he condemned the declaration of the Republic of Ferunia, stating that it was an "unnecessary escalation of violence" with "no justification". On 25 July, he congratulated former Kivuian Chancellor Alexandra Berkhoff on her appointment as Secretary-General of ACES, citing Monsilva's close relations with Kivu and his support of her tenure as chancellor.

Second Term (2025–present)

Lin's second term began on 1 May 2025, upon the announcement that the Freedom and Democracy Party had won the most seats in the Parliament at the 2025 federal election. However, he faced notable losses, losing 77 seats and 7.9% of the popular vote. When asked about the losses faced by the FDP and its coalition partners, Lin said, "these losses are a warning to me and my government that we need to change something, and that is what I will spend this next term doing."

As the FDP had a minority of the seats, Lin was obliged to form a new government. However, he announced that he will not be forming a new government with their previous coalition partners, the Green Party and the Social Democratic Party, which is what he was expected to do despite the passing of the Assumed Coalition Act earlier in the year. He announced his party would be forming a coalition with the Liberal Party and Innovate Monsilva instead (alongside the Shaoyu Liberation Party and Kyōtō, which are affiliate parties and therefore automatically part of any FDP-led coalition). This was a controversial decision, as the last FDP-Liberal government ended with the Presidential Veto Scandal in 2000, but Li Zhi-ming, leader of the Liberal Party, re-assured voters that the scandal was "a result of Kong Tsai's troubled leadership", and that "the Liberal Party has changed significantly in the last 25 years". Lin's addition of Innovate Monsilva was also subject to increased discussion, as it had previously been a member of the Reformed National Party government under Xu Yan from 2016 to 2023.

Political positions

Lin's political positions have been described as "pragmatic" and "centrist", with many referring to his previous membership of the Liberal Party as background. Lin's ideology has often been compared to civic nationalism, particularly during the Shaoyu crises in 2023. He believes the identity and sovereignty of Shaoyu and Monsilva is important, but it should not be used to sacrifice equality and diversity.

Throughout Lin's carreer he has supported socially progressive movements in matters relating to race, disability and sexual and gender orientation. He strongly advocated and voted for the Open Military Service Act 2008 and the Anti-Discrimination Act 2011, both of which were major developments in Monsilva's LGBT rights. Lin was also part of the successful campaign to legalize same-sex unions in Wuzhong in 1989. Lin himself has described himself as "progressive" and a "strong supporter" of the LGBT community. In 2019 he stated his support for the legal recognition of transgender identity (male to female or female to male), which as of 2024 is, although not illegal, legally unrecognized.

Lin was at the forefront of Monsilva's electoral reform movement in the late 2010s and was partially responsible for the passing of the Electoral Reform Act which completely overhauled Monsilva's electoral system. The Global Freedom Network described Lin's electoral reforms as responsible for Monsilva's rising democratic freedom in 2024. He has described Monsilva's establishment of a federal system as "one of the greatest decisions this country has made" and has demonstrated support for devolving further powers to states. A noteable achievement of Lin's relating to devolution was the creation of the free state status granted to Shaoyu in January 2024.

Personal life and family

Lin met Wu Chun-hua in 1990 while they were both working for the civil service in Wodai. They married on 5 August 1994 in Haimao, Leibo. The couple have two children, both sons, born in 1995 and 2001. Lin identifies as an athiest, while his wife is a buddhist. He says his children were raised in a Buddhist household. Lin is an avid player of yuchio, and said that when he was in high school he had briefly wished to become a professional player, before directing his interests towards politics.

In 2007, Lin said he has a very close relationship with his brother, Lin Tao, who is an investigative journalist.