Thu, Aug 24, 2006 - Page 1 News List

KMT unveils particulars of party assets

NO APOLOGY The party's official report states its assets have shrunk to NT$27.7 billion. Lee Teng-hui was blamed for the biggest losses, but also praised for his bailout solutions

By Mo Yan-chih  /  STAFF REPORTER

Most of the income, Chang said, was used to pay pensions amounting to NT$1.6 billion and other personnel fees.

In response to accusations from the Executive Yuan and Examination Yuan that the KMT had only returned 25 pieces of land it had received free from local governments, and demands that it should return 19 movie theaters inherited from the Japanese colonial period, Chang said that the KMT had acquired all of the real estate and theaters legally.

"We gave 56 pieces of land back to the local governments, not 25 ... We returned the plots of land not because they had been illegally acquired, but as a positive response to public expectations," Chang said.

Lee Yung-jan said that the KMT had only directly operated five of the 19 theaters, and would return the total value of NT$300 million to the government.

Looking ahead, the KMT's current priority is to sell its Central Investment Corporation, the party's major asset with the highest value at about NT$2.3 billion, to ease its financial burdens, Chang said.

The money will be pumped into its retirement fund, which includes an annual pension budget of NT$2 billion for 900 party workers and a further NT$900 million for 900 retirees.

While approving the party's efforts to make its assets public, members of the Central Standing Committee said that the KMT should not apologize over the issue, but urged the party to put the assets into trust and withdraw from all private investments.

"The assets will remain an issue even after we publish the report ... The question is whether a political party should have assets," KMT Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said yesterday, adding that the party should employ its assets for the public good.

KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) urged the party to push for the passage of the political party law so that it may resolve the dilemma in terms of the law.

KMT Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), son of Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), spoke out on behalf of his father and grandfather.

"The KMT's management of the assets during the party-state period made a contribution to the country ... We don't need to explain anything," he said.

Pledging to sell the Central Investment Corporation before 2008, Ma promised that the KMT would put the remaining assets into trust.

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