Firing criticism at the opposition, the DPP yesterday unveiled its third in a series of campaign commercials which brands opposition lawmakers as "barbarians" for killing the Cabinet's NT$2.7 billion budget.
The party said that the budget would have helped local governments improve their sewerage systems which would have safeguarded against typhoon damage.
"Having reviewed the budget's details, these opposition legislators still willfully endorsed cutting it back," DPP secretary general Wu Nai-jen (
The five opposition legislators targeted in the new ad are Chang Fu-hsin (張福興), the KMT's candidate for Hualien County Commissioner; Chu Li-luan (朱立倫), KMT candidate for Taoyuan County Commissioner; Chen Rong-shen (陳榮盛), KMT Tainan mayoral candidate; KMT legislator Lin Junq-jzer (林政則), and People First Party legislator Chen Chen-sheng (陳振盛).
Wu said that the five -- along with 12 other opposition legislators -- have impeded local development by cutting funds that were earmarked for public construction, child welfare and school students' computer lessons.
In response, opposition lawmakers yesterday accused the DPP of "smear tactics" and insisted that they have fully supported the government's budget for local development.
"The DPP is adept at smearing [reputations] and running elections, but is incapable of running [the country]," Lin said yesterday, adding that the accusations against him are groundless.
Lin said that the budget was killed on June 5 -- one day before the Cabinet gave the legislature the proposal's details.
Lin said he will consider filing a lawsuit against the DPP because "the party lacks political morals and does whatever it takes to win elections."
However, earlier yesterday Wu said that the Cabinet was asked for the budget's details on June 5 and submitted them to the legislature the same day. "But they still killed it [the budget] that evening," Wu said.
Nevertheless, Chang yesterday disagreed with Wu.
Chang said that the budget, included in the Cabinet's additional budget proposal, was voted on as a package. He said that legislators would not have been able to single out specific items within the budget.
"Could any legislator be so dumb as to cut the budget for his hometown?" Chang said, adding that the ad has only worsened the stand-off between the legislature and the executive branches.
Chang demanded that the DPP prove the accusations against him.
Chu said that it is a legislator's job to scrutinize the government's budget, saying that responsible legislators would not pass any budget without a clear explanation as to how the funds would be used.
"If legislators pass budgets without carefully reviewing the budgets' details, that would be a case of neglect," Chu said yesterday.
Chu yesterday urged voters to punish the DPP by voting against its candidates.
But the DPP's Wu said the ad had its intended effect of showcasing the opposition's faults while highlighting the successes of the DPP.
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