"Anti-black gold politics" has become one of the key issues of the presidential campaign. According to political observers, its importance has compelled all three major candidates to clarify their positions and put forward proposals on how to reform this problem.
Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), a professor of political science at Chung Cheng University, said that the financial scandal of independent presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) has made people realize how serious the problem of "black gold" really is.
"People find that some politicians used their privileges to play `money politics' for their own benefit. And voters are disappointed that Soong and other KMT leaders are involved," Lin said.
Soong yesterday declared his whole family's assets -- including his wife Chen Wan-shui (
"I have learned a lesson in financial management from this event. I did not pay much attention to this issue and as a result I made some mistakes. But now I am going to make my family's assets transparent to the public," Soong said.
Meanwhile, KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰) said that the KMT is determined to wipe out "black gold" by drawing up new laws and revising regulations.
"To wipe out `black gold' politics requires concrete measures, not only shouting slogans," Lien said. "We plan to make the Law for Regulating Political Donations as soon as possible. A Political Party Law is also necessary to regulate a political party's activities."
Analysts said that Lien's and Soong's remarks both indicate that the candidates aim to establish a system to make politicians' assets transparent. This should be one aspect of the Soong scandal that will benefit the people, they said.
"Now presidential candidates have to prove they are able to deliver on reform. Especially Lien, who is faced with attacks by both the DPP and Soong on this `black gold politics' issue," said a political observer.
The DPP has made political capital out of the black gold issue and is using it to help it gain power.
"The public opinion polls show that Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) now leads other candidates, with around a 30 percent support rate. Some of Soong's supporters shifted their choice to Chen after the exposure of the scandal," said Jimmy Kuo (郭俊銘), DPP Organization and Development Department director.
Kuo said that the DPP would keep on attacking "pan-KMT groups," which include both the KMT and Soong with his supporters from the KMT, who he says belong to the same system and have ties with special interest groups, gangsters and conglomerates.
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