Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday called on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to stop selling its controversial party assets, questioning whether it is doing so to avoid supervision from the next legislature.
“The public should take this seriously. The KMT is trying to sell off its party assets before the legislative and presidential elections,” Tsai said in response to media queries while attending a campaign rally for the party’s legislative candidate in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢).
“I suspect that [the KMT] is selling the party assets with the intention of avoiding examination and supervision of the new legislature after the election and therefore I call on KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) to refrain from selling party assets prior to the election of the new legislature and the passage of legislation on political parties and party assets,” she said.
Photo: CNA
Tsai was referring to advertisements published by the Chinese-language Commercial Times earlier this week that called for buyers for 26 plots owned by the KMT — three in Taipei, six in Taichung and 17 in Changhua — and for 80 percent of the shares of a hotel in Palau.
Tsai asked KMT presidential candidate Chu to clearly explain the funding of his and KMT legislative candidates’ campaigns, as the DPP did.
Chu should explain whether KMT assets have been used to fund election campaigns and how much has been invested so that voters have a basis for comparison between the two parties, Tsai said.
Speaking about the scheduled presidential debates, Tsai said she is glad the three parties have finally reached an agreement on the dates.
The presidential and vice presidential candidates’ debates have been scheduled with the first debate to take place on Saturday next week, the second on Dec. 27 and the third on Jan. 2.
“There will be three debates, and we are happy to have this opportunity to present our policies to voters around the nation,” Tsai said.
Tsai said that her aides would be working closely with debate organizers, while she and her team would be making their final preparations for the debates, adding that she has canceled some public appearances to prepare.
Tsai has been campaigning in Taoyuan and said that the situation is relatively more stable in southern Taiwan, so she would focus on regions where the support is relatively weaker, such as Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli and New Taipei City.
As for Jhougli, which has traditionally been a stronghold for the KMT, Tsai said that the support for the two parties is 50/50 and called on the voters to give the DPP a chance.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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