Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) spokespersons yesterday upped the ante in their personal attacks on the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate for Taipei mayor, Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), saying the “corrupt and evil liar” lacked the ability to deliver and govern.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛), who quoted Su as saying that those who could not deliver should be eliminated from the elections, asked Su to eliminate himself and voters to use their ballots to cast him out.
“Sloganeering will never get him the support of voters,” Pan said. “The electorate will clearly see how he’s packaged himself to swindle votes.”
KMT Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) called Su a “humbug,” saying Su had reneged on a promise in March 2006 to step down as premier and quit politics if the public could not see improvements in public security within six months.
Citing polls conducted by three KMT-friendly media in September 2006, Cheng said more than 60 percent of respondents were unhappy with the state of public security. About half of respondents also agreed that Su should step down for failing to improve public security, Cheng said.
During Su’s two terms as Taipei County commissioner, Cheng said about 40 percent of the county’s crimes were solved. Thirty-two illegal gravel quarries and more than 300 illegally constructed factories were never outlawed and less than 6 percent of the sewage system was completed, she said.
Alex Fai (費鴻泰), another KMT lawmaker, accused Su of spending more than NT$36.5 billion (US$121 million) on a development project in Tamsui (淡水), Taipei County, but only completed 25 percent of it. The plan to build a light rail system there also fell flat, he said.
During Su’s stint as premier, Fai said, Taiwan’s global or regional economic rankings sank to new lows and his popularity hovered between 25 percent and 18 percent.
KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said voters should abandon Su, as “he did not have any accomplishments when he was Taipei County commissioner.”
Su dismissed the accusations as groundless, saying such a smear campaign was negative and outdated and that it would not be accepted by the electorate.
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