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Ma says KMT is commited to clean politics and stability

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is determined to promote clean politics, a stable administration and clear-cut policies if it regains power, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday.

Ma made the pledge during a seminar with KMT members at the party's branch in Chiayi County.

Responding to criticism that the KMT lost the Dec. 9 Kaohsiung mayoral election because of its "wrong" electioneering strategy, Ma stressed that "clean politics" was the party's core value and said he would rather lose an election than resort to vote buying.

Ma made the remarks against a background in which evidence does not indicate whether Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Huang Chun-ying (黃俊英) or Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were involved in a vote buying scandal. Some Huang supporters, however, are suspected of vote buying for Huang on their own initiative, according to prosecutors.

Although the KMT lost the recent Kaohsiung mayoral race by a slim margin, Ma said that he did not believe that sticking to the principle of clean elections was wrong.

He said that he was content with the fact that the KMT seized 17 seats in the Kaohsiung City Council election which was held alongside the mayoral election -- becoming the largest party in the city council and successfully changing past perceptions held by the public about the KMT.

Ma also criticized the DPP for its poor performance since it came to power in 2000, claiming its incompetence in terms of maintaining political stability has seriously hurt the country -- something which he said was even worse than corruption.

The KMT is resolved to become a "righteous, clean and competitive" political party to win greater support from the people, he said.
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