Print

Mail

wiki links

Heavy travel itinerary takes its toll on Lee

Former president Lee Teng-hui travelled to Ilan for a campaign rally yesterday. Lee didn't feel well upon his arrival and was helped inside a building to get some rest. PHOTO: CHIANG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

Former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝)was forced to cancel part of his campaign tour yesterday after suffering from car sickness on the way to an Ilan County campaign event.

The incident lent weight to the argument of those who say the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) has nothing with which to attract support for its candidates other than Lee's charisma and political legacy.

Lee appeared pale and weak as he arrived at his first stop for the day, Mukuang School for the Blind in Luotung township, after a two-hour car trip on the meandering highway connecting Taipei to Ilan. He was immediately led to a room to rest for one and a half hours.

Originally scheduled to deliver four speeches within three hours, Lee gave only one.

His half-day trip thus curtailed, Lee boarded a train back to Taipei in the early afternoon.

Fearing the incident would be interpreted as Lee succumbing to the TSU's hectic campaign schedule, the party tried to downplay the event.

"Lee just talked too much in the car and felt a bit tired," said Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強), the party's secretary general, adding that Lee's campaign schedule today in Taipei County remains unchanged.

But Lee could not hide his physical discomfort.

"I was carsick, I threw up in the car ? I had to take a rest," Lee said.

Lee said he did not know they were taking the winding Taipei-Ilan highway, which he has always disliked. He said he would come to Ilan again but would "have to take the train."

The former president told reporters that he had not slept well the previous night as he was "contemplating too much on what to say today [Saturday] on stage."

"Now I just want to have a good night's sleep," he said.

Lee's indisposition served to underline recent speculation that the party's dependence on the former head of state to boost the popularity of its candidates has harmed his health, caused anxiety among Lee's family and led to conflict between his aides.

Reports have said that Lee's close aides, friends and family have objected to his re-entering the political stage out of concern for his health.

The aides' worries have already triggered fall-outs between Lee and Su Chih-cheng (蘇志誠), once Lee's top aide, and between Lee and his secretary, Li Ching-yi (李靜宜). Su and Li both recently left their positions under Lee's employ.

Similar apprehension has also affected Lee's bodyguards.

In October, the bodyguards underwent a large-scale reshuffle. Many of Lee's long-serving guards felt that the TSU was taking too much advantage of Lee's political legacy. Their calls for the party to reduce its dependence on that legacy sparked tension, and many of the guards were replaced.

The TSU has scheduled 19 days of campaign traveling, during which Lee is to give 32 speeches nationwide. The 39 candidates nominated by the TSU have competed vigorously for Lee to attend their campaign events.

Since the TSU was founded in August, Lee -- viewed as the party's spiritual leader -- has featured in all of its campaign events, drawing crowds of those who wish to see him in person. Most of the candidates, who are not figures of national renown, have been overshadowed by Lee.

Aware of the obstacles faced by these candidates, Lee now promotes them as his top students from the Lee Teng-hui school, hoping the public can shift their love for him to these new faces on the political scene.

But the effect appears to be limited as the crowds are attracted whenever Lee arrives, only to disperse once he leaves.
This story has been viewed 1857 times.