Recent reports also show that the gap between Taiwan’s rich and poor has reached an all-time high. Despite this, Ma insists that the NT$3.2 billion (US$100 million) budget earmarked for celebrations of the Republic of China’s 100th anniversary next year is not a lot of money and has even compared it to the sum used for the World Games in DPP-ruled Kaohsiung last year.
The previous weekend, when Ma had to rush between appointments because of a full schedule, police forced other drivers out of the way to make way for the presidential motorcade on the highway. The Presidential Office has tried to put a spin on the situation on several occasions by putting the blame on the National Highway Police Bureau. It even said Chen had done the same thing during his presidency to downplay the incident.
For Ma, the five special municipality elections in November will be an important part in his attempt to win re-election and the KMT will go to any lengths to win. The problem is that in the past, Ma criticized Chen for using election rhetoric to split Taiwan along ethnic lines and create tensions between the pan-green and pan-blue camps. The KMT has now been in power for more than two years and has no reason to blame their poor governance on the DPP. Even if the DPP really did harm Taiwan as Ma claims, the party has already paid the price by being voted out of office.
An opinion poll by Global Views Magazine showed that despite several months of strongly promoting the ECFA, only 31 percent of respondents supported Ma. This is an undeniable fact. The KMT must surpass itself and produce concrete policy achievements to win voter support because any attempts to manipulate social divisions will fail.
Liu Shih-chung is a senior research fellow at the Taipei-based Taiwan Brain Trust.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
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