Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to resign, calling him incapable, disconnected with the public and too conservative.
“Ma is incapable and shameless. He should step down as president,” Lee told reporters while attending the Presbyterian Church’s celebration of its 150th anniversary in Taiwan.
“During his six years in office, government policies have become disconnected with the people. He only thinks of himself, while the public suffers so many troubles and problems. He has been unable to take care of any of the members of the public,” he said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Ma might just as well step down voluntarily, Lee said, adding that if Ma remains, he would force him to resign.
“I asked him to step down because that way he can save face rather than being forced to resign,” Lee said.
The results of last month’s nine-in-one elections were the biggest failure for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which has existed for more than a century, “but Ma never thinks about reform,” Lee said.
“There was a Cabinet reshuffle, the premier stepped down, but the same people remain in the Cabinet; the only change is the vice premier taking over as premier,” Lee said.
When he pushed for reforms, Ma has always sided with conservative views, Lee said. For example when there was a movement for direct suffrage for the presidency, Ma supported electing the president via the national assembly.
While campaigning for Ma during his first run at the Taipei mayoral position in 1998, Lee said they discussed their political ideologies.
At the time, Ma said that he would follow Lee’s path to reform, the former president said.
“However, the truth is that he did not do so,” Lee said. “He has been completely opposed to reforms within the KMT.”
Lee said that some people believe the KMT lost so badly in the election because it did not nominate good candidates, but he thinks the KMT’s failure to show good leadership over the six years since Ma took office in 2008 was a more important factor.
“Ma does not care about the suffering of citizens — so many young people are unemployed, salaries are so low, houses are so expensive, they are afraid of getting married and having children — he only cares about developing ties with China,” Lee said.
On Dec. 1, two days after the nine-in-one elections, Lee, during an interview with SET-TV (三立電視), urged Ma to resign both as chairman of the KMT — which he did last week — and as president.
Lee repeated on Facebook on Tuesday night that Ma should resign as president immediately.
Yesterday marked at least the third time the former president has made the appeal.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to