Ma, Wang take campaign on the road

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, second right, raises his hand during a campaign rally in support of his bid for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship in Kaohsiung yesterday. Ma is joined on stage by KMT Legislator Lee Fu-hsing, left, who also had invited a Chiang Kai-shek and a Sun Yat-sen look-alike, second left and right, respectively. PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YIH, TAIPEI TIMES

Coming on the heels of their televised political forum Saturday, both candidates for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) continued campaigning for the party's July 16 election yesterday, with Ma emphasizing party unity.

Yesterday Ma took his campaign to Kaohsiung where he told supporters that he appreciates Wang for his experience in the legislature. But he told partisans there to "affirm Wang Jin-pyng but vote for Ma Ying-jeou."

The Taipei mayor also said that the KMT should not be divided after the chairmanship election, regardless of who wins the election.

Addressing long-standing doubts about his relationship with Wang, given their rivalry in the chairmanship election, Ma said that he and Wang have both promised to work together.

Should he lose, said Ma, he will accept any party duties Wang delegates to him. Similarly, should be win, he and Wang will, together to administer the KMT, Ma said.

Echoing comments he made during his televised speech on Saturday, Ma said that "reform is not a just slogan."

"We must let everyone believe that the KMT [is worthy of] hope. Only this way can we appeal to moderate voters and young voters," Ma said.

The Taipei mayor also took the opportunity to criticize the administration of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). He said Chen needs to stop focussing on his plans to amend the Constitution and instead focus on developing the economy.

"The Executive Yuan wishes to revise the Referendum Law (公民投票法) to be able to hold referendums on constitutional matters," Ma said.

"While referendums are not some sort of monster, it should be the people themselves who take the initiative push for political participation, not the government," Ma said.

The Cabinet proposed an amendment to the Referendum Law last week to lower the necessary number of people to initiate a referendum. Since the proposal was made, it has faced heavy criticism by the pan-blue camp in the legislature.

Currently, to initiate a referendum, at least 0.5 percent of all qualified voters -- approximately 80,000 people -- must endorse a referendum initiative.

Chen has already publicly said that it is impossible to make a new constitution or to change the nation's name, meaning he should put all efforts into the economy instead of his pushing for amendments, Ma said.

Meanwhile, Wang yesterday mingled with supporters in Changhua County, and sought the support of young party members there.

"Everyone says that Ma is very handsome, but there are also people that say that there are different kinds of good-looking," Wang said yesterday.

"Ma Ying-jeou is one kind of handsome, and Wang Jin-pyng is another kind of handsome." he said jokingly.