Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu said it was unprecedented for the legislature to have not yet passed the government's budget by April, saying she felt distressed when she saw political figures busy jockeying for the presidency while neglecting their duties.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Lu also criticized opposition parties for boycotting defense procurement budgets, and said former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should be held mainly responsible for what she termed the US government's "aversion" to Taiwan and the "deterioration" of Taiwan-US relations.
Lu, who is vying for the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) nomination for next year's presidential election, said the reason that she is running for president was not because she wants to be the president, but to offer the Taiwanese people a better future.
"When we examine a politician, we look at what contribution he or she makes to the country not what positions he or she has held," she said. "We look at the person's integrity and what kind of vision he or she has to offer for the country's future."
Lu made the remarks while addressing the inauguration ceremony of one of her support groups in Taipei yesterday.
She also fingered Su and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), criticizing them for teaming up to pressure her and DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun out of the party's primary.
When asked for comment, Hsieh, at a separate setting, said that competition between party contenders was inevitable, and that competition was different from pushing rivals out of the race.
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