On the eve of the first anniversary of the KMT's presidential election defeat, KMT heavyweights yesterday said that the DPP government has disappointed most of Taiwan with its poor leadership and that the KMT will soon regain power and put Taiwan back on the road to a prosperous future.
"The DPP government has proved that it is only good at attacking its rivals' shortcomings rather than solving problems and, as a result, after its one year in office it has led the nation into hardship," KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien made his remarks as he addressed a gathering of party members in Tainan County, the county President Chen Shui-bian (
"I have heard that many people are starting to yearn for KMT rule," Lien said.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed Lien's words, saying that Chen's rule has amounted to nothing more than a turbulent political situation, a continually declining economy and rising unemployment.
"The past 10 months of President Chen's leadership has made the public miss the KMT," Ma said at a separate KMT gathering in Taipei County, "but the public should not predict how the president's remaining three years in office will develop just on the basis of the past 10 months.
"We should expect him to learn to coordinate different opinions in the future because I cannot deny that Chen is a flexible politician."
The KMT was ousted from office after 55 years when it lost the presidential election last March 18. Following the defeat, its leaders pledged to implement party reform.
KMT Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (
"Since the inauguration of the current administration of President Chen on May 20, 2000, the public has come to realize the differences between the new government and the old one," he said.
After a year of party reform and transformation, Lin said he is satisfied with the results and stressed that the party is fully confident it will win the December legislative, mayoral and county chief elections.
Hu Chung-hsin (
"When a weak Cabinet meets a strong opposition force in the legislature, the weak [Cabinet] becomes weaker. This has led the minority government into trouble," said Hu, the author of Son of Taiwan (臺灣之子), a biography of Chen.
Chen's administration has not yet been able to communicate with opposition parties in order to try to win their support, Hu said.
"Chen is badly in need of a `brain trust' consisting of people experienced in governing a nation," Hu added.
Hu said another problem with Chen is that since his inauguration, his main concern has been how to ensure victory in the next presidential election three years from now.
Because of this, Chen has been so busy thinking about ways to win the support of business groups and the US government and how not to offend China, that he has hardly been able to do anything else, Hu said.
"He is still campaigning. Only when he stops thinking about his campaign will he be able to handle the fundamentals of politics well," he said.
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