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Anniversary no time for celebration, says Yu

On the sixth anniversary of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) assuming power, party chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday apologized for the government's poor performance and the corruption scandals that have clouded the party recently.

"The DPP has done a lot of things, but it has failed to meet the people's expectations. The series of recent incidents have upset the morale of the party," Yu said yesterday, while participating in volunteer clean-up work in Sinjhuang, Taipei County. An activity held to mark the sixth anniversary of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration.

Rather than being in the mood for a celebration, Yu said he felt depressed because of the public's disapproval of the party and the government. He urged all DPP members to reflect on ways to improve the party's performance and regain the confidence of the people.

"This anniversary should be a day of reflection for the DPP. I urge all party members to make a thorough self-examination of how they can better meet the public's expectations," he said.

A string of recent corruption scandals involving administration officials and a controversial insider trading case that has implicated Chen's son-in-law, Chao Cheng-ming (趙建銘) have caused the president's approval rating to fall to just 16 percent, according to a recent survey conducted by Shih Hsin University.

popularity plunges

The popularity of the DPP has also plunged to a new low as 50 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the performance of the Cabinet.

According to the survey, the three Cabinet agencies with the highest approval ratings were the Consumer Protection Commission, the Environmental Protection Administration and the Ministry of the Interior, in that order.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday approved of the apologies offered by Yu, as well as that given by the president at a separate event, but urged both the president and the DPP to reflect on ways to lift the country out of its "worst crisis in domestic politics, diplomacy and cross-strait relations in the past half century."

"President Chen, his family, in-laws, party and even the government are in the midst of a serious crisis. This situation is very rare in Taiwan's history. He should take time to think about ways to solve the problems of all those concerned," Ma said yesterday while participating in the opening of a dog park at Taipei's Dajia Riverside Park.

disappointed

Noting that the DPP government's poor performance has disappointed not only the general public, but also its party members and supporters, Ma said he expected the KMT to not just take personal or party success into consideration, but also the future of Taiwan's 23 million people.

Ma also urged the DPP to do the same, and take action in order to prevent the country from sinking further into trouble.

"The need for the president and the government to work harder is a shared expectation of all the people. Opposition parties will not take pleasure in the DPP's poor performance. We will continue playing our role in supervising the government and hopefully our joint efforts will make Taiwan better," he added.
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