Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) shrugged off a report that senior party officials had warned her against criticizing government policy, but added that she would insist on “doing the right thing.”
“No one has warned me to my face, but I have no idea if anyone [has criticized me] behind my back. At least no one has warned me to my face,” she said, when asked for comment.
Lo made the comment in response to a report yesterday by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) that said some party members were dissatisfied with Lo because she did not always support the government's policies.
The article said some KMT members had even suggested that KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) replace Lo, an accountant turned legislator-at-large from the People First Party (PFP), but Wu had not done so for fear of breaking a KMT-PFP cooperation deal.
The report said Wu had urged PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) to “remind” Lo of her role.
It quoted Lo as confirming the rumors and that Soong had told her to do “the right thing.”
Lo, however, denied yesterday that several KMT officials had called her “a Democratic Progressive Party [member] in the KMT.”
“We as legislators fail in our duty if we do not correct or give [the government] suggestions when the government comes up with poor and unfeasible policies or policies that are unlikely to enjoy the support of the public,” she said.
Lo said that some caucus assistants had told her “not to forget that you are a legislator of the ruling party” when she was reviewing the government's budget request.
But Lo said she was accustomed to criticism from her own party.
“As an elected representative, you should not feel happy when people praise you. When people criticize you, you should not feel sorrowful, either ... this is what I have learned since becoming a legislator,” she said.
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