Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (
First, anti-nuclear groups led by former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Lin I-hsiung (
But in recent days the pan-blue camp, due to election concerns, has said it will not support the Legislative Yuan's passage of any proposal to hold a referendum along with the election. Lin was so infuriated by the KMT's lack of credibility that he has planned a hunger strike in front of the KMT's headquarters.
Next, both the ruling and opposition camps previously agreed to pass sunshine laws so that the public can openly see the workings of political donations, political parties and politicians themselves. In addition, the DPP has proposed halving the legislature's size and establishing a single-member district, dual-vote system. Though unwilling, the pan-blue camp followed suit and announced the same policy ideas.
Yesterday, however, the pan-blue camp blocked three major reform bills: the Political Donations Bill (
The pan-blue camp blocked the political donations bill even though it had completed negotiations with the pan-green camp and signed an agreement on the bill's passage.
Assets owned by the KMT and Lien have always been a thorny issue. Lien seems to be very bad at math. The pan-green camp staged an all-out attack on this issue during the 2000 presidential election campaign. More than three years later, however, the KMT and Lien still seem to be in disarray trying to defend themselves.
Not until Jan. 2 did Lien give a disclosure of his assets -- totaling NT$1.3 billion -- that was endorsed by accountants. On Wednesday, however, the media revealed that three houses owned by the Lien family in Boston, San Francisco and New York had not been disclosed.
Incredibly, Lien's wife Lien Fang-yu (
In fact, this is not the first time Lien has hid his assets. In 1998, Lien failed to report -- as government officials were required to do -- NT$36.28 million that he "lent" to Wu Tse-yuan (
Lien's failure to report his US assets to the Control Yuan makes him a repeat offender.
Credibility is a politician's most important asset. If a politician has a credibility problem, the people will not find his policy ideas persuasive.
Former US president Richard Nixon resigned after lying about the Watergate scandal. In 1988, US Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart dropped out of the campaign after the media showed that he had lied about having an affair.
These examples show the importance of credibility in democratic politics. Lien has shown that he has serious problems with his credibility.
He will find it very difficult to campaign now, and even if he wins the election he will find it difficult to persuade people that he ought to be trusted.
Dropping out of the presidential race would be a wise decision for him.
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