The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday dismissed calls from some KMT members for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to step down as party chairman amid the scandal surrounding former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世).
“The KMT is a party with a party-state system, and there are a lot of things that require communication and negotiation between the administrative branch and the party. It is necessary for the president to lead the party,” KMT Culture and Communication director Chuang Po-chung (莊伯仲) said.
Some KMT members have urged Ma to step down as KMT chairman and focus on his presidential responsibilities after Lin, one of his favored officials, was detained for allegedly accepting a NT$63 million (US$2.11 million) bribe from Chen Chi-hsiang (陳啟祥), head of Kaohsiung-based Ti Yung Co (地勇選礦公司), a metal-recycling firm.
Photo: CNA
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾), who is also a KMT Central Standing Committee member, questioned Ma’s choice of officials and urged him to focus on his presidential duties.
“President Ma should leave party affairs to others. He should take the time to re-examine his choice of personnel and stop trusting those with little talent. More importantly, he should stop trusting people who only say good words to him,” she said.
Calls for Ma to step down as KMT chairman were made earlier, amid a public uproar over fuel and electricity price hikes in May, with some KMT Central Standing Committee members expressing concern about Ma’s plummeting approval ratings because of his policies and suggested that one of the party’s hopefuls for the 2016 presidential election should take over as KMT chairman.
In a poll released by broadcaster TVBS yesterday, Ma’s approval rating dropped 5 percentage points from before the scandal to a record low of 15 percent, while 70 percent of respondents said they were not satisfied with his performance.
Ma served as KMT chairman from 2005 to 2007, but resigned after being indicted for alleged misuse of his special allowance fund as Taipei mayor. He was elected party chairman again in 2009 in an attempt to seek closer cooperation between the KMT and the government.
Lin’s involvement in corruption allegations seriously damaged Ma’s reputation as a politician with integrity. The president is having a hard time distancing himself and his administration from Lin as he had endorsed Lin and entrusted him with major posts in both the KMT and the government.
Chuang yesterday dismissed concerns about the KMT’s election outlook in southern Taiwan after Lin, who has enjoyed solid support in Greater Kaohsiung, was removed from the party, adding that the KMT would work harder to consolidate voter support in central and southern areas.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS