Thu, Dec 23, 1999 page3

• Chen outlines policies to root out KMT `black gold'

  • By Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTER
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  DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (3?糮? presented a declaration yesterday on his anti black gold platform which urged the public to support his political reform project -- designed, he said, to wipe out shady connections between organized crime and the government by ending the KMT's 54 years rule.

  "The 2000 presidential election will be a turning point for Taiwan's democratic development. And it is the last opportunity for people to choose between a `new and incorruptible' team and a `traditional black gold team' for Taiwan's future," Chen said.

  "Black gold" politics refers to gangster involvement and corruption in the political process.

  Chen claimed that the KMT's presidential candidate Lien Chan (3s戰) and independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) both grew up within the KMT's structure, which he said represents a complex of "government and party-invested businesses, conglomerates and gangsters."

  "The result of KMT rule has brought three serious problems -- a corrupt political climate, people's loss of confidence in the judiciary and the destruction of a fair competitive environment for economics," Chen said.

  He concluded that if people choose Lien as their new president, it would only protect the current privileged stratum of political society. And to choose Soong, Chen added, would allow a new "black gold alliance" to lead Taiwan.

  He also declared a series of seven measures he said would help to eliminate the problem of "black gold" politics. These would range from a US-style presidential-appointed special prosecutor, beefing up anti-gangster laws, restructuring the electoral system to reduce graft, and forbidding corporate investments by political parties.

  Chen stressed that only if people give him the opportunity [to win the presidential election] will Taiwan have an opportunity for an honest and upright government.

  "All other countries, which developed their democracies in the world's `third wave' of democratization, have succeeded in carrying out a shift in power from one party to another," Chen said. "Only Taiwan is still under the rule of an autocratic party."

  Chen therefore urged the use of "people power" at the ballot box next March to help the DPP carry out its hope of reforming black gold politics.

  "Only when people use their power to make the right choice in the presidential election can those privileges be eliminated and can the judiciary restore its reputation and dignity -- and can politics and economics develop in a healthy environment," Chen said.

  For your information

  CHEN'S ANTI-`BLACK GOLD' PLATFORM

  1. The assignment of a special prosecutor by the president to investigate and prevent vote-buying during all elections. 2. Set up a special task force to search and collect evidence against criminal organizations and politicians and those who have contact with gangsters. 3. To amend laws to forbid convicted gangsters from running for elections for ten years after being released from jail. 4. To carry out the consensus of the National Development Conference in 1996, which included halting township elections, cutting off the connection between local factions and organized crime groups. 5. To set up an independent Financial Examination Committee to supervise financial institutions to prevent corruption between government officials and conglomerates. 6. To draw up a new law banning business investments by political parties. 7. To organize a Judicial Reform Supervision Committee and announce a timetable for such reform.
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