President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election campaign office yesterday dismissed the People First Party’s (PFP) accusations against its executive director King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) that he was interfering in the government’s decisionmaking process, insisting King’s role was as an aide and campaign strategist for the president.
PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) on Tuesday confirmed his presidential candidacy as the number of signatures in his presidential petition reached 355,589.
At Tuesday’s press conference, PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄) and former legislator Li Ao (李敖) challenged Ma’s performance and accused King of interfering in government policies under a “Ma-King mechanism.”
They said King was the decisionmaker while Ma was only responsible for executing policies.
Ma’s election campaign spokesman Yin Wei (殷瑋) yesterday said that in the years since Ma took office, King was out of the country for almost two years, adding that King has never been involved in policymaking.
“As President Ma’s aide, Mr King always fulfilled his duties with caution. He never crossed the line, abused his power or broke the law. Those who make the accusations should offer solid evidence, and Mr King will accept public examination,” he said.
According to Yin, King did not take any post in the Presidential Office or Cabinet after Ma assumed office in 2008, and he was a visiting academic in Hong Kong and the US before taking over as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) secretary-general in 2009.
As the camp’s executive director, King has focused his efforts on the election campaign and never participated in the planning of government policies, he said.
Yin’s comments came amid a KMT instruction that asked its party members to refrain from criticizing Soong or the PFP.
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