Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰) defended his controversial comments about Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) yesterday by saying it was simply his “style.”
“I only tried to explain the situation vividly [to Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) during a question-and-answer session on Friday] ... I was trying to convey the opinion of my grassroots supporters. That’s why I did not embellish my remark,” Lu told reporters in the legislature.
Lawmakers across party lines criticized Lu for saying that Chen’s stroke last year and the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) woes were the result of bad karma earned by dismantling monuments to former dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
BAD KARMA?
“When the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] was in power, it dismantled CKS Memorial Hall. What did it get in return? Chen Chu suffered a stroke. This was what we call karma. The CKS Memorial Hall is a shrine … whoever infringes upon it will meet with disaster,” Lu said on the legislative floor on Friday.
The former DPP government did not demolish CKS Memorial Hall; it was renamed National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall.
The statue of Chiang at the Kaohsiung Culture Center was not demolished, but cut up and shipped to the Chiang Kai-shek Statue Park in Dasi Township (大溪), Taoyuan County.
Chen Chu has refused to respond to Lu’s remarks, saying only that taking down the statue was the collective will of Kaohsiung residents because the bronze statue represented totalitarianism.
Lu said his remarks reflected his “countryman” style, although he was willing to improve it.
“Mayor Chen Chu happened to have a stroke [after Chiang’s statue was removed]. You see, [former] president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) family are also in limbo now,” Lu said.
When asked whether he thought he had gone too far last Friday, Lu said “different people have different views,” adding that his only error had been to refer to Chen Chu by name.
LAWMAKERS REACT
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Hsiao Ching-tien (蕭景田) tried to distance the caucus from Lu yesterday, saying the remarks were a personal opinion and had nothing to do with the party.
He said he would talk with Lu before commenting on the matter.
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said Lu owed Chen Chu an apology because his remark had had a negative effect on society.
DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅), however, said Lu’s remark represented the arrogance of the KMT caucus.
The KMT caucus should apologize and send Lu to the legislature’s Discipline Committee, Lee said. He said Lu should have sympathy for people’s suffering, not curse them.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
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