Tue, Jul 21, 2015 page3

• Chu says KMT key to peace, prosperity

  WASTED YEARS? An academic challenged the KMT chairman’s claims, saying the party had sacrificed the nation’s development to promote its own political agenda

  • By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA
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  New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday urged people to vote to keep the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in power in next year’s presidential and legislative elections, saying it is the key to laying the foundation for the nation’s continued economic prosperity and for peace across the Taiwan Strait.

  The KMT chairman said that the nine-in-one elections in November last year were a major setback for the party, but the party would not be defeated in one battle.

  The KMT is capable of self-reflection, and temporary setbacks are an incentive for the party to step back into the ring, Chu told a party meeting with KMT vice chairpersons Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) as well as KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱).

  

  Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu, second right, appears with KMT Chairman Eric Chu, right, at a party meeting in Taipei yesterday aimed at boosting party morale for the upcoming election campaign.

  Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

  In response to media comments to: “Give us a reason why the KMT should continue to exist,” Chu said he could think of at least three reasons for its continued existence and why it should remain in power.

  The KMT is trustworthy and has not used ethnic conflict to create social turmoil for its own political advantage, Chu said.

  Having the KMT remain in power is the only way Taiwan can continue to prosper, with the party guiding the nation through the many economic challenges of the 21st century, he said.

  The last and most severe challenge that only the KMT can resolve is its “appropriate” handling of cross-strait issues and maintaining steady development of cross-strait relations, Chu said.

  Over the past eight years, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has continued to promote cross-strait conflict, endangering the peace that has been achieved over this period, Chu said.

  He added that only with the KMT at the helm of the nation can there be a lasting foundation for stable development of the nation’s economy and cross-strait relations.

  Chu called for party solidarity and joint support for Hung, as the party prepares for the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elctions, adding that if everyone worked together, the party would be able to prevail in both polls.

  Responding to Chu’s remarks, Academia Sinica researcher Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said on Facebook why he thinks the KMT should be voted out as the ruling party.

  The KMT has, for its own political benefit, rejected multiple proposals for reform and broken the principles of constitutional government by initiating the “September strife,” Huang said.

  The “September strife” refers to the incident in 2013 in which President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) accused Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) of illegally trying to influence the judiciary, and tried to revoke Wang’s KMT membership and invalidate his status as a KMT legislator-at-large, which would have stripped him of his position as speaker.

  Instead of the KMT’s claims of national prosperity during its seven years of governance, wages have regressed, the rich-and-poor divide has deepened and young people have a bleak view of the future, especially with soaring real-estate prices, Huang added.

  The China-leaning policies of the Ma administration has greatly hurt Taiwanese democratic values and repressed human rights, as well as sacrificed Taiwan’s development, Huang said.

  There are multiple reasons that the KMT should not be allowed to continue as the ruling party and even more reasons to diminish the party’s influence in the Legislative Yuan by not allowing it to gain a majority, Huang said.
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