Premier Yu Shyi-kun, who is expected to head President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) campaign head-quarters, yesterday commented for the first time on the personalities of heavyweight political figures who will be influential in the presidential election in March next year, including Chen and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
"Among the many advantages of President Chen is that he's very hard-working, practical, confident, determined and extremely smart," Yu said. "His disadvantage, though, is that he's a little bit impatient and might sometimes neglect the opinions of others, including those of the ruling and opposition parties."
As for Lien, Yu said that he is a "good man," but this does not necessarily make him a good leader.
"One of his biggest problems is that he lacks the ability to run a country, the belief of core values and thinking with foresight," Yu said. "He's always changing and doesn't seem to know exactly what he wants."
Yu made the remarks yesterday morning in an interview with a TV program.
During the 45-minute interview, Yu repeatedly called on the public to vote for Chen to help him continue to steer the nation.
"Next year's presidential election is very important for the country," he said. "If the president wins re-election, the momentum of the anti-reform and reactionary forces will subside. China will have to take the [Democratic Progressive Party] DPP more seriously and start to ponder and readjust its cross-strait policy."
Turning his attention to Chen's potential running mate Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Yu said his relationship with her is not as bad as the media has portrayed it to be.
"Actually, we've been getting along pretty well, although there had been some misunderstandings while I was serving as the secretary-general of the Presidential Office," he said.
Yu added that while he has not attempted or needed to do anything in particular to mend their relationship, he believed time would take care of the problem.
"My policy has always been: don't mess with her when she's mad, because after all she's my boss," he said.
When asked about whether he would like to take over her position, Yu said that he would be content with his current position if Chen wins re-election.
"I don't think I'd like to be in that position, because I'm the kind of person who loves responsibilities," Yu said.
Commenting on Lien's running mate, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
"One of his weak points is that he can galvanize the crowd with big promises, but doesn't make efforts to put the promises into practice," he said.
Yu also predicted that Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Considered by many to be one of the party's rising stars, Ma has dared to challenge Yu, his direct supervisor, on several occasions, inside as well as outside the weekly Cabinet meetings.
Well aware that it was not to the advantage of the DPP to attack Ma, who has significant media support, Yu yesterday said that the Taipei mayor was a politician who knows how to work with the media.
"While we've never intended to give him a hard time on any occasion, he knows exactly where to turn when his personal opinions create friction in the Cabinet: the media, because they are hungry for a shred of petty skirmishes or vitriolic bickering," Yu said.
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