Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Hsieh's running mate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) should both be held responsible for the nation's "weakening competitiveness."
"Both Hsieh and Su are former premiers. Therefore, they should both be held responsible for Taiwan's poor economy, its divided society and weakening international competitiveness," Ma said while attending a KMT campaign event in Kaohsiung yesterday.
"However, they have failed to spend even one day reflecting on what they did wrong to Taiwan," he said.
Ma questioned Hsieh's ability to improve the nation's economy, saying that Kaohsiung Harbor's ranking as one of the world's busiest ports had continuously dropped as neighboring ports expanded during Hsieh's six-year term as Kaohsiung mayor.
Ma said the "low utility rate" of several technology parks in Kaohsiung also showed that Hsieh "knows nothing about how to stimulate the economy."
"On the contrary, the Taipei Neihu Technology Park, which I promoted when I was Taipei mayor, generated nearly NT$2.3 trillion [US$71.8 billion] in revenue [last year]," he said. "Therefore, if I were to be in charge of the [nation's] government, it follows that the nation's economy would improve."
When asked to comment on an opinion poll published yesterday that saw a slight increase in Ma's support and a corresponding decrease in Hsieh's support, Ma said the result reflected dissatisfaction with the DPP government's "indifference" to soaring commodity prices.
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