The candidates go head-to-head

All five presidential candidates stood together at the official televised policy presentation forum yesterday to lay out their hopes for the future of Taiwan while at the same time trying to find fault with each other.

The policy announcement forum, which was held by the Central Election Commission, stipulated that each of the five candidates could have 30 minutes to speak and the order they appeared was decided by drawing lots.

The KMT's Lien Chan (連戰) was the first to take the floor and he spent most of his time talking about how his 30 years of experience as a public official would allow him to be a stable and capable leader.

"I have served as transportation minister, foreign minister, provincial governor and premier, participating in all of the most important achievements of the government," Lien said.

He said that when he pushed the National Health Insurance plan, for example, other political parties and many scholars spoke out against it. However, Lien said, opinion polls now show that over 80 percent of the public approve of the policy.

"Whatever promises we made, we have already carried out. Therefore I can say that whatever policy we speak of now will absolutely be accomplished," Lien said.

Lien also reaffirmed his five perspectives for Taiwan's future and 10 goals for upgrading the government, saying "we want to lead a third wave of reform in Taiwan, promoting a real `Taiwan Spirit' -- pragmatic and rational."

After the forum, Lien told reporters that he was very satisfied with his performance and felt that he had clearly explained his direction and goals to lead the new government. "The time was too short to allow me to give more details," Lien said.

The second candidate to speak was independent James Soong (宋楚瑜), who criticized Lien's comments by saying that the vice president had failed to upgrade Taiwan and had done a poor job of managing the government's finances.

"When former-President Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) died in 1988, the central government kept about NT$50 billion in budget surplus," Soong said, "but now the deficits are in excess of NT$300 billion."

He stressed that the campaign platforms or policies of all presidential candidates were about the same and the only difference was the capability of putting ideas into practice.

"Lien said that `we want to do that' or `we want to do this,' but the question is whether or not he even understands what it is the people want," Soong told reporters afterward.

Soong also urged the other candidates, especially Lien, to participate in a televised debate to show the voters exactly how the candidates differed.

DPP candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday reiterated his campaign platforms: the rotation of political power and the concerns of the international community about a peaceful transition should Chen win the election.

"Just like Hemingway's novel The Old Man and the Sea in which sharks ate all the meat of the fish caught after a long struggle by an old man, Taiwan's economic miracle and democratic reform achieved by people 's hard work are like the old man's fish, and the `black gold' politics brought by the KMT's long rule are the same as the sharks in the novel," Chen said.

He stressed that he and his running mate, Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), both grew up alongside the grassroots movement for the democratic reform of Taiwan. The other presidential candidates grew up in a pampered environment and became accomplices of the authoritarian government.