Hundreds of people marched through Taipei yesterday, calling for the KMT to return assets it allegedly stole during its decades-long rule over Taiwan.
Waving flags and wearing headbands, protesters kicked large inflated balls around as they marched. "Give the assets back to the people," was written on the blue balls, which matched the KMT's party colors.
The demonstration, organized by the "Decreasing the Legislative Seats to Half Action Union" (
Many protesters carried flags for legislative candidates and more than 30 campaign trucks joined the rally. The marchers also called for the number of seats in the Legislative Yuan to be reduced.
The number of seats should be cut in half and the KMT should return the illegal assets it accumulated from Taiwanese people since 1945, said Stephen Lee (
"Our main essence for the protest is very clear," said Lee.
"First of all, we ask for public support to decrease the number of legislative seats to half of the current figure. Second, the KMT accumulated many illegal assets during its rule over Taiwan through `black gold' politics. They should return that money to the government to help the people of Taiwan survive the economic slowdown," he said.
The number of legislators is set at 225 but currently there are just 219, since some lawmakers are assigned to government posts.
Lee said the excessive number legislators only creates problems for the country.
"Taiwan is a small island, but we have 225 legislative seats which could be a world record," he said. "Unfortunately, not all of the lawmakers work hard for the people. Most of the time, they argue with one another or fight, instead of doing something for the voters. The more they show up on TV or in the newspapers, the more chance they have to gain attention. This is only for their private interests."
Alice King (金美齡), Taiwan's Tokyo-based national policy advisor, also attended the rally and signed a proposal calling for a reduction in the number of legislators.
"I agreed with the proposal," said King. "Other than cutting the number of legislative seats to half of the current figure, we do need to have `real' lawmakers, so we will not waste our taxes on paying unnecessary salaries."
The KMT is one of the world's richest parties, with holdings estimated to reach over US$2 billion. However, the KMT says it obtained all its property legally and that the party could lawfully use the profits generated on election campaigns.
Leaders of the DPP and Taiwan Solidarity Union have signed the proposal to cut the number of lawmakers. There has been no response yet from the KMT, the People First Party or the New Party.
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