Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators heaped scorn on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at the legislature yesterday, saying that he ignored election promises and recklessly pursued pro-China policies that damage Taiwan's sovereignty.
Two days before the second anniversary of Ma's inauguration, DPP lawmakers gave the government a “failing grade” for the last two years, which they said were marked by rising unemployment and stagnating wages.
“Where is this so-called golden decade?” DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said, in reference to a political slogan used by Ma's campaign in 2008. “The president talks about his achievements all the time. Where are the results?”
Citing government statistics, Yeh said that wages had fallen to 1990 levels, unemployment and the gap between rich and poor had increased, as well as the country's suicide rates.
“Have things really gotten better?” she asked.
The president's China policies were raised by DPP caucus whip Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), who said that Ma's refusal to define Taiwan and China as two separate countries undermined Taiwan's sovereignty and degraded its sovereign status.
Ma said in an interview with Mexican newspaper El Sol de Mexico months after his inauguration that cross-strait relations were not state-to-state and in an interview last year with the Chinese-language United Daily News, Ma said that both Taiwanese and Chinese were of the same nationality.
These comments “essentially sold Taiwan out,” Chai said, adding that the remarks could pave the way for Taiwan's unification with China.
On an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) that the government plans to sign with China next month, DPP lawmakers called it the latest example of Ma's administration focusing on cross-strait issues at the expense of internal policymaking.
“The president says that Taiwan will move forward. However, under [his administration], Taiwan has only moved forward toward China,” Yeh said.
“In the last two years of President Ma's administration, the people’s lives have yet to take a turn for the better. At the same time, public approval for his administration and his own personal ratings have continued to slide,” DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) said, adding that those were signs that could mean that Ma would be facing a tough re-election battle in 2012.
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