Tens of thousands of KMT supporters and blue-collar workers yesterday took to the streets in 22 counties and cities under the leadership of KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) to demand the DPP government take effective measures to tackle worsening unemployment.
The marches were the first organized by the KMT since it became an opposition party last year and also the first joined by Lien -- a former premier and vice president.
Marchers maved anti-unemployment banners and chanted slogans such as "DPP in power, guaranteed unemployment." Others asked President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for "a bowl of rice to eat."
Leading the marches, Lien called for the government to cut unemployment to below 3 percent.
"We demand that the government show us resolutions. It cannot evade the problem of unemployment and economic recession any more," Lien said over a loudspeaker before the start of the Taipei parade.
Lien said that during its last year and a half in power, the DPP's incompetence had halved the wealth of ordinary people and increased unemployment by 150 percent.
"But the DPP is now pouring all its effort into the election campaign, touring Taiwan to rouse public sentiment, buying votes with promises, creating chaos and all this while turning a blind eye to people's livelihoods," Lien said.
He further lashed out at President Chen for failing to honor his campaign promises to create 100,000 job opportunities and to push for unemployment insurance legislation.
"It isn't hope and happiness that the DPP has given us over the past one-and-a-half years. It is anxiety, disappointment and pain," Lien said.
Under the DPP's leadership, Taiwan's economic growth rate has plummeted to the lowest among all Southeast Asian countries, Lien said.
While the TAIEX has tanked to around 4,000 points from 9,000 points, the unemployment rate has reached 5.26 percent, with over 520,000 people jobless and the livelihoods of 1.5 million people affected, Lien pointed out.
"Joblessness has left our families worried, our children's education at stake, our house mortgage loans unpaid and our kids starving," Lien said.
"And joblessness has forced our friends and relatives to commit suicide," Lien added.
In addition, some 1.68 million people suspended their health insurance contributions last year because they could not afford it, while another 580,000 people did so in January and February this year, according to Lien.
To tackle unemployment, Lien demanded that the government earmark NT$10 billion in funds to issue relief payments for a period of six months to the jobless; to help the unemployed set up their own businesses; and to assist small and medium-sized businesses upgrade their operations to improve their competitiveness.
Joining KMT officials in the marches were other party members and candidates for the Dec. 1 elections, along with representatives from over 50 local labor groups.
Representing the disabled were protesters who participated in the event in wheelchairs.
The marches attracted members of other parties as well.
While some New Party legislative candidates turned out to support the KMT, others from the Green Party staged an opposing demonstration to demand Lien donate half his assets to help the jobless.
The Green Party also proposed enacting a law to confiscate the KMT's illegally gained assets and to set up a fund to help the unemployed retrain for other professions.
RSS