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Candidates ink ethnic harmony pact

Low support for pact * Alliance for a New Constitution: 0 candidates. * Hakka Party: 0 candidates. * Democratic Progressive Party: 29.5% of candidates. * Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT): 28.7% of candidates. SOURCE: PEACETIME FOUNDATION OF TAIWAN

Politicians should stop spreading hateful messages and work to build harmonious ethnic relations, Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan executive director Chien Hsi-chieh said yesterday while publicizing a list of legislative candidates who had signed an agreement on ethnic harmony.

The organization had sent out invitations to 386 legislative candidates belonging to 10 political parties to sign an agreement on ethnic harmony last month. A total of 164 of them signed before the deadline on Dec. 28, Chien told a press conference at the legislature.

"The agreement was meant to remind candidates that mutual respect should always be kept in mind, and that ethnic issues should not be manipulated as a tool for political gain even during the most heated election," Chien told the news conference. "Any statement that could make any ethnic group uncomfortable or raise ethnic tension should be prevented."

He said ethnic tension could result in social turmoil even in the most advanced democracies.

"We have seen how a new government could not be formed in Belgium for several months because of tensions between political leaders in Flemish and Francophone regions of the country," he said.

Chien praised candidates from the Taiwan Solidarity Union, the Third Society Party, the New Party, Green Party Taiwan, Taiwan Farmers' Party and the Home Party for their 100 percent support rate in the agreement.

All candidates from those parties have signed the agreement, a news release said. However, the Alliance for a New Constitution, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Hakka Party were criticized for their low signing rates.

"We regret so many candidates from these parties did not sign the agreement. However, we still warn them against raising ethnic tensions, as such behavior will be condemned by voters," Chien said.

Only 31 out of 105 DPP candidates and 31 of 108 KMT candidates signed the agreement, while no candidates from either the Hakka Party or the Alliance for a New Constitution signed it, the news release said.

Meanwhile, Third Society Party founder and legislative candidate Jou Yi-cheng (周奕成) said the DPP and the KMT were manipulating ethnic issues and called on voters to boycott the two major political parties.

"If they stay in the political arena, the problems will continue," Jou said. "Thus we must break the two-party system."
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