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Parties exchange accusations of vote-buying

A KMT-commissioned poll released yesterday generated ruling and opposition lawmakers' accusations over who had burdened the country's finances the most with irresponsible project proposals.

Presenting the result of the survey, KMT Legislator Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進) claimed that a majority of the people were in line with his party's view that the DPP administration tended to make pledges of citizens' welfare benefits in hopes of winning next year's presidential election.

Among the 1,068 interviewed, 77 percent of respondents perceived the increasing welfare policies pledged by the government related to next presidential election.

"Fifty-eight percent of the interviewed thought that the ruling party's focus on welfare initiatives during the past Hualien commissioner by-election campaign was a prime example of vote-buying through policy promises," Lee said.

He further asserted that the DPP administration has spent more than NT$1.7 trillion from the government coffers since last year to promulgate policies to ingratiate voters and paved the way to winning another four-year term.

Lee said that the opposition alliance would safeguard taxpayer's money and prevent the ruling administration from further fiscal abuse and that fiscal responsibility is his campaing motif, he said.

He added that the party was studying the possibility of prohibiting candidates from making preliminary policies to lure votes through legislation.

"An opposition party will not endorse proposed pensions or subsidy increases unless the Cabinet proves that the coffers have sufficient funds," Lee said at a news briefing.

KMT Secretary general Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) echoed Lee's sentiment as he said later yesterday that the largest opposition party may not respond to any further proposed pension raises proposed or initiated by the DPP so as not to suggest something that would furhter hamper the nation's financial predicament.

The KMT had urged the administration to raise another NT$1,000 to President Chen Shui-bian's promised increase of a NT$4,000 monthly pension to farmers.

The opposition partisans argued that the number "four" in NT$4,000 would annoy elder farmers because it sounds like the word for "death" -- an extremely taboo subject.

DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) refuted the KMT's allegation. He argued that the KMT was the first party to use preliminary promise of policy to win election.

Chen counteracted that the KMT took more than NT$500 billion from the coffer to rebuild veterans communities during its half-century governing for benefiting certain voters and safeguard these turfs for election.

"The NT$3,000 monthly pension for elder farmers was at last realized after the DPP's long-lasting advocacy, whereas the KMT authorities had granted a monthly allowance of NT$12,400 to individual veteran in past decades," he continued.

Opposing the KMT's allegation, which defines the proposed resolution trust fund and the bills of expanding construction projects and job-stimulus budget as bribery-initiative, Chen argued that his KMT counterpart forgot that its presidential hopeful had recently presented a series of campaign promises that would cost the nation NT$2,860 hundred million.

The KMT-promised pension for elder farmers, elderly citizens alone with a NT$5,000 monthly subsidy for young people's education expense and other favored proposals amount to NT$286 billion were exactly a bill that the tax payers should worry about, Chen said.
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