Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday expressed hope that the ruling and opposition parties would reform by forgoing political confrontation and getting down to the business of government.
"It hurts my heart when I see the recently unstable political climate and acute political confrontation. Do the two political camps have to treat each other like enemies?" she said. "I hope to see the country reborn in 2008 as one that is no longer torn between independence or unification and pan-blue or pan-green."
Lu made the remarks yesterday morning while addressing the graduation ceremony of a summer study camp organized by a religious group, Yi Guan Dao (一貫道), in Kaohsiung County. Yi Guan Dao is a syncretic religion that seeks to identify the common principles underlying Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam.
After the legislature failed to pass the opposition-initiated motion to recall President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Lu said that all parties should remain calm and introspective.
"When you point fingers at others, you are pointing four fingers at yourself," she said. "Before you accuse somebody of being corrupt, you must ask yourself whether you are honest."
That was one of the main reasons she launched the "blue sky, green ground, good Taiwan" campaign after the recall vote, Lu said.
Six religious groups and 30 international and local organizations have agreed to help promote the idea, Lu said.
"We hope the initiative gets the support of the 23 million people of Taiwan so they can pressure the political parties they support and then the parties can pressure their own leaders," Lu said. "If political parties can stop holding grudges against each other and start working together for the best interest of the country, our democracy will be more mature, society will be more stable and the country will be more prosperous."
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