DPP legislators demand KMT return assets

Mere days after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) moved from its old headquarters on Zhongshan S Road to a new location on Bade Road, a group of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators visited the party yesterday to demand that it return its stolen assets to the public.

The legislators said that even though the KMT had sold off most of its assets, the DPP would do its utmost to see them returned to the government through a referendum.

"Former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) promised to return some of the party's assets. But [KMT Chairman] Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has sold them all. He should learn from Lien Chan," DPP Legislator Lin Chung-mo (林重謨) said yesterday. "We demand the return of the KMT's assets through referendum," he and other legislators shouted.

The KMT amassed a vast empire of banks, investment companies, petrochemical firms and media outlets during its autocratic rule.

Amid accusations that the party acquired its assets illegally, the KMT has divested many of its assets.

The party stepped up sales of its assets under Ma's leadership to ease its growing financial burden, selling three media outlets last December and its old headquarters in March. The KMT moved to its current headquarters on Monday.

After a closed-door meeting with KMT Deputy Secretary-General Chang Che-chen (張哲琛), DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) said that as the KMT had declined to say whether or not it would return all its stolen assets to the government and make the details of its previous sales public, a referendum to test the public's opinion on the issue was necessary.

Chang declined to comment.

Meanwhile, KMT Spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文) said yesterday that recent threats on Ma's life would not prevent the chairman from attending the anti-President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) rally to be staged tomorrow in conjunction with the People First Party in Changhua County.

Cheng said the Taipei City Police Department had assigned more police officers to ensure the chairman's safety, but there was no need to overreact.

"Chairman Ma cares about his own safety, but he took the incident in his stride," Cheng said.