Wang supporters mad at corruption allegations in ad

Continuing the attack on Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship candidate Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), former legislator Chen Chien-chih (陳健治) charged yesterday that recent campaign ads issued by Ma suggest that incumbent chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) are corrupt.

Speaking at Wang's central chairmanship campaign headquarters yesterday morning, Chen said that about 80 percent of Ma's recent ads were directed at Lien, while 20 percent were directed at Wang.

With time running out before the KMT's chairmanship election on July 16, both Ma and Wang have intensified their campaigns for the party's top post. Rousing controversy within the party, the Ma camp's most recent television and print ads urge party members to draw a clear line at corrupt money practices, or "black gold," within the party by voting for him.

Since the ads were released, the Wang camp has said that the ads indirectly smear Wang by implying that, in comparison to Ma, Wang has a history of corruption.

The Ma camp has consistently denied that the ads have any such meaning, while adding that Ma himself has also been the undeserved target of attack by members of the Wang camp.

In response to the outcry, Lien himself called on both camps to report on negative campaigning to the party's top policy body, its Central Standing Committee, next week.

Speaking yesterday, Chen said that it was obvious that the Ma camp's ads were directed at not only Wang, but also at Lien, by hinting that corruption still exists within the party.

"Everyone has been to school. Even thinking with your knee, the meaning is obvious," Chen said yesterday.

While Ma made no comment to Chen's remarks yesterday, Ma camp representative KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said yesterday that the advertisement only reflects the voices of the KMT's supporters.

However, hinted Wu, the Wang camp should stop its protests, otherwise the public might begin wondering how much of their outcry stems from a guilty conscience.

Besides heating up with an advertising campaign, both camps also geared up yesterday for this weekend's televised appearances by Wang and Ma.

The KMT has arranged for Wang and Ma to present their political views and vision for the party's future tomorrow and July 9. The first spots will be aired on five different television channels in their entirety this weekend.