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Ma says KMT leading in election

During an interview with talk show host Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said his party had a big lead in seven cities and counties for next month's local government elections, but the outcome in other parts of the country was much harder to predict.

"All the smear campaigns emerging are likely to scare off swing voters, and attract more pan-green camp supporters to come out and vote," he said to Jaw, who hosts the pro-pan-blue TV show Super News Hacker.

Ma said that because of the negative campaigning of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), more swing voters may choose not to cast their votes due to their disappointment at the political mess, which may bring the overall turn-out down to about 65 percent.

While most of the polls favor the KMT to win big in the elections after a serious of corruption scandals involving the government, recent allegations made against several KMT candidates have produced an increase in support for the DPP.

Ma said of the eight cities and counties already governed by the KMT, the party may have trouble retaining Penghu County. However, the party could still wrest control of Chiayi city and Ilan and Taipei counties away from the DPP.

Asked to comment on his strategy should he be elected president in 2008 with the DPP becoming the majority party in the legislature, the mayor said he would respect the dual-heads of the governmental system.

"I would nominate a premier who would be acceptable to the majority party because respect for the majority is the fundamental principle of democracy," he said.

The president would play a crucial role in foreign and defense policy, as well as in cross-strait affairs in a dual-headed governmental system, he said.

In response to the recent confiscation of VCDs alleging he was gay, Ma said it was "nonsense," and the person who made the accusation "had a great imagination."

"My wife thought the accusation was just boring gossip, and my kids would laugh themselves to death if they ever heard such a rumor ? Negative campaigning may be effective in earning support from hard-core supporters, but its effectiveness will diminish," the mayor said.

Ma questioned whether the content of the VCDs should be deemed as freedom of speech, and said while it is important to defend freedom of speech, any expressions should abide by the law.

Ma also denied DPP accusations that he had made up the rumor that he was gay himself in order to attack the DPP.
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