Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) would not abuse his position to help his fellow Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members' campaigns for next month's elections in Taipei and Kaohsiung, Cabinet Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said yesterday.
"[Su's] schedule was arranged in accordance with related regula-tions. It is not arranged [to benefit DPP candidates] as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) suggested," Cheng said at a press conference at the Government Information Office yesterday afternoon.
Cheng was referring to an accusation leveled by KMT caucus whip Tsai Chin-lung (
Tsai alleged that Su had campaigned for Chen during his office hours on Oct. 26.
Tsai also said that Su had made two "impossible promises" to Kaohsiung residents: building a convention center and moving the city's railway system underground.
"Why did I say that his promises would never come true? It is because the two construction projects would cost NT$57 billion (US$1.7 billion). But I did not see this plan covered anywhere in the Cabinet's annual budget when the legislature was reviewing it," Tsai said.
Moving Kaohsiung's railway system underground had been proposed during election campaigns for 14 years, but was always soon forgotten when the elections were over, Tsai said.
Tsai later went to the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office, where he filed a lawsuit against Su for malfeasance.
In response, Cheng said that Su had requested leave from 2pm to 4pm on Oct. 26.
Cheng added that budgets for the underground railway system were first listed last year.
"For the fiscal year of 2005, an NT$155 million budget was planned," he said.
"This year, it was NT$500 million. For next year, we are planning for NT$1.4 billion," he said.
As for the convention center, Cheng said that when the building was completed, it would turn an estimated profit of NT$4.6 billion and lead to the creation of at least new 2,000 job opportunities every year.
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