Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday urged the central and local governments to refrain from threatening each other over voting procedures for the upcoming elections and referendums.
Stirring up public anger "cannot resolve the problem," he said, adding that both parties must turn to legislation to resolve the matter.
Hsieh made the remarks in Changhua County in response to the recent controversy over voting procedures for the legislative elections and two referendums in January.
The DPP has proposed a referendum seeking to force the KMT to return its stolen assets to the government. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has proposed holding a referendum on empowering the legislature to investigate the president and other top-level government officials regarding corruption allegations.
Hsieh yesterday said emotional outbursts would only make things worse, no matter who is in power.
He urged pan-blue-governed county and city heads to reconsider the issue, because they would not want to see townships, villages and cities under their supervision challenge their authority.
Meanwhile, Hsieh yesterday criticized the KMT for dwelling on negative aspects of the economy.
"The reason they do that is because they think it will work to their advantage," he said.
Hsieh said that although the former KMT administration encouraged Taiwanese businesses to relocate to China, they had no kind words about Taiwan to attract foreign investment.
"The upcoming elections are a showdown between identification with Taiwan and identification with China," he said. "The economic prosperity I promote is different from the KMT's party-state capitalism."
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Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”