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Chen slams Lien pension, plugs reform from a truck

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday criticized former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) "unreasonably large" pension and KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) "mishandling" of the party's stolen assets, in an appeal to voters to throw their support behind possible changes to public servant pensions and a political party assets bill.

Referring to a comment Ma made about outgoing China Steel Corp chairman Lin Wen-yuan's (林文淵) NT$44 million (US$1.3 million) bonus, Chen urged Ma not to apply a double standard when it came to Lien's pension.

"Ma said that Lin's large bonus was not a problem of legality or illegality but a problem of the public's feeling. I agreed with him entirely," Chen said. "But I also hope Ma won't have double standards on Lien's pension."

Chen was speaking at a rally yesterday afternoon in a square in front of the railroad station of Talin (大林) Township in Chiayi County, the first stop on his campaign trail for the year-end local government elections.

Aiming to revive confidence in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government and boost the party's candidates for the December elections, Chen started his tour in Chiayi and Tainan counties and Tainan City that included stump speeches from a truck.

Mimicking the campaign truck gimmick that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi used to good effect to win a powerful mandate in the Lower House of the Japanese Diet, the Presidential Office and the DPP fitted out a campaign truck with the slogan, "The people are the master, the president speaks."

In his Chiayi speech, Chen defended Lin against a week of attacks by lawmakers over the high bonus that he received, saying that Lin deserved the reward because China Steel had successfully changed from a public-owned company into a private enterprise.

"Look at what Lien says about his unreasonably large pension, which he says he's due. Now look back at what Ma said -- can this possibly be a deserved pension?" he asked.

Chen said that Lien's pension was even higher than his salary and that the size of the pension was an "evil practice" left over from the party-state run by the KMT.

"To bring about a society that enjoys true fairness and justice, I ask you to support the government's plan for reforming the preferential interest rates of up to 18 percent for public servants," he said.

Chen said that if the government succeeds in implementing the reform, the treasury would save at least NT$19 billion. He emphasized that the money would not be used to purchase weapons.

"I will use the money to take care of minority groups and I will increase subsidies for aged farmers from NT$4,000 to NT$5,000 per month," he said.

Chen also criticized Ma's handling of the KMT's stolen assets, accusing Ma of misleading people into thinking he would return them to the public, whereas in reality he was selling them off them gradually on the quiet. Chen asked the public to support the passage of a bill that would prevent the assets from being unloaded elsewhere.

"I also urge Ma not to order KMT lawmakers to boycott the government's reforms," he said.

Chen will hold around 35 truck rallies during his campaign. Today, he heads for Hualien County, Taichung County and Taichung City.
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