As a gesture for International Women's Day, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) invited the country's leading female officials to the Presidential Office yesterday to share their political experiences.
Lu encouraged women to transform politics and defended President Chen Shui-bian's (
"Many people say politics is a dirty matter, corrupted by all kinds of maneuvers. But I would claim that only describes how men think about politics. Politics could be as beautiful as flowers and grass," Lu said.
"Beauty, mercy and wisdom are the characteristics of female politicians," Lu said.
When women join politics, Lu said, they need to think about how to transform politics.
Lu invited 11 Cabinet members, a county commissioner, a mayor and 19 township chiefs.
The Cabinet members included four council chairwomen: Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Council for Cultural Affairs Chairwoman Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀), Council for Hakka Affairs Chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) and Council for Labor Affairs Chairwoman Chen Chu (陳菊).
The country currently has 319 county commissioners, mayors and township chiefs. Only 21 of them are female.
According to Lu, yesterday's meeting was the first of its kind in the nation's history. "You should be grateful to President Chen Shui-bian for this gathering," Lu told the officials.
Lu lauded Chen's determination to fulfill his campaign promise of "gender power-sharing."
"Three years ago, it was he who insisted on choosing me as his partner in the presidential election," Lu said.
Lu also responded to speculation about whom Chen might choose as his partner for next year's presidential election.
"It is the most meaningless thing to guess who might become the president's partner for next year's election. All I care about is the next generation. I have never thought about who might be the president's partner," Lu said.
Lu also defended Chen's statements on the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case.
Earlier this week, Chen said the case remained open.
Chen's remarks drew criticism from opposition parties that he tried to interfere with the judicial process in the case.
Lu dismissed the criticism and said that media coverage has misled the public on the case.
"While the president remained silent over the case, the media reported that the government has discontinued the investigation into the scandal," Lu said.
"Now, as the president has said something about the case, the media accused him of judicial interference. The media should just leave the case to the courts," Lu said.
Lu also sent Chen's regards to the female politicians at the meeting. "The president wanted me to thank every one of you for your hard work," Lu said.
During the meeting, the officials discussed a wide range of issues such as education, women and children's safety, garbage problems, judicial reform and tourism development.
Many mayors and township chiefs complained about local governments' financial problems. Lu, noting that the central government is also struggling with huge deficits, encouraged the mayors and township chiefs to generate money on their own.
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