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Cabinet wasting money, KMT says
PARTISAN? :
KMT caucus members argued that the Cabinet's NT$260 million advertising budget would be spent on campaigning for DPP candidate Frank Hsieh
By Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Jan 31, 2008, Page 3
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"All of the advertisements will be used to campaign for the presidential election ? It would be much better if the government donated the money to poor families."
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Kuo Su-chun, KMT caucus whip
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The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday threatened to challenge the Cabinet in court if it proceeds with a plan to spend more than NT$260 million (US$8 million) on advertising government policies without following proper procedures.
KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) condemned the government for "wasting" time and money by advertising its policies, and accused the Cabinet of buying advertising time to campaign for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).
"All of the advertisements will be used to campaign for the presidential election ? It would be much better if the government donated the money to poor families," Kuo said.
At a separate setting, Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) defended the Cabinet.
WORKING HARD
The Cabinet was working hard and there was nothing wrong with letting the public know about the government's policies, Shieh said.
Shieh, who is also the Goverment Information Office (GIO) minister, said the Cabinet's decision to adopt a centralized procurement approach with the GIO in charge would ensure that advertising was better coordinated.
"The sum of money was allocated for the whole year and not just a few months. The GIO did not ask government departments to allocate their advertising budgets to the GIO," he said.
Meanwhile, Kuo, together with KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), also questioned the source of Hsieh's assets, saying he should look at himself before questioning KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) integrity.
Kuo said Hsieh's property holdings increased by more than NT$8 million in 2003 and again by NT$3 million in 2004. The legislator said Hsieh had purchased a house valued at more than NT$10 million.
INVESTMENTS
Kuo said Hsieh should also explain his wife Yu Fang-chih's (游芳枝) investments on the stock market.
Ma spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) has also raised questions about Yu, urging Hsieh to explain why Yu is known as "Putaichih" (布袋枝).
The nickname implies that Yu carries a sack full of loot.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
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