The Presidential Office (PO) yesterday demanded that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) apologize and admit that she had made a mistake by raising a false alarm about the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said that the DPP had exerted itself in criticizing the agreement over the past year.
“Now she pretends that nothing has happened. Doesn’t the party owe the people an apology?” Lo asked.
Lo said an April debate on the ECFA between Tsai and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was organized at Tsai’s request, adding that she followed up by mobilizing more than 30,000 people to oppose the agreement about a month ago.
“Now, she says she wants to pull out of the ECFA fray and concentrate on the [upcoming] elections,” Lo said. “She should apologize to the people and admit that all her alarmist talk over the past year was nothing but electioneering.”
Lo made the remarks in response to a media inquiry about a Chinese-language United Daily News report yesterday that quoted Tsai in an interview as saying that she had “come around to the idea” of the ECFA.
Rather than seeing their opinions fall on deaf ears, Tsai said it would be a better idea for her party to win the November mayoral elections and the presidential poll in 2012 to offer substantial assistance to those affected by the trade agreement, she was quoted as saying.
Tsai reiterated during the interview that she had never said her party would repeal the agreement if it returns to power, dismissing that idea as media “over interpretation.”
Lo yesterday said Tsai’s reported change of heart was a political gambit aimed at “swindling ballots” from the electorate in Sinbei City, where she is contesting the November elections, because she realized that most Sinbei voters were in favor of the trade pact.
DPP spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) yesterday expressed regret in a press release over the Presidential Office’s remarks, saying the office had “once again resorted to deliberate smearing.”
Lin reiterated the DPP’s opposition to the ECFA and said the party would continue to stand on the side of the public and protest against the government’s “severely deviant policies.”
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