Despite achieving a majority in the combined presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 14, the drop in the number of votes in his favor from the 2008 election was substantial and bears noting, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) told a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Lunar New Year gathering yesterday.
The gathering, on the first day of work following the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday, was attended by most party heavyweights, including Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), former KMT chairman Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄), Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
In his address, Ma said that although the KMT had weathered many hardships in this month’s elections, the reason the party had prevailed was “because our policies meet the needs of the people and not because of any of my personal accomplishments.”
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
During his second term, Ma said his government would push for policies that would ensure prosperity, justice, peace and integrity.
“These policies will, through our hard work, become the consensus among Taiwanese,” Ma said.
However, Ma added that the KMT still needed to engage in self-reflection, because the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had seen a significant increase in votes compared with its performance in the 2008 presidential elections.
Ma was re-elected with 767,000 fewer votes than in 2008, while the DPP vote increased by 648,000.
“This is a serious concern,” Ma said, adding that it was for this reason that he had not left home from Thursday until yesterday.
“I stayed home to reflect on where we went wrong, why we weren’t able to achieve the exciting results seen four years ago,” Ma said. “Which of our policies can we still improve on? What flaws might there be in our use of personnel or policy?”
Ma said he also exchanged views with close friends to “calm down and to think about the future.”
Under the Republic of China Constitution, Ma said, the second term of his presidency will officially begin on May 20, although in reality it began yesterday.
“Yesterday, I thought how I would finish what I started during my first term and what will take us further,” he said.
Ma said that with the seven-in-one elections in 2014, the nation would only see two election days every four years: one for the presidential and legislative polls, and one for local polls.
The seven-in-one elections refers to the combined elections of municipal mayors, municipal councilors, county commissioners and city mayors, county and city councilors, township mayors, township citizen’s representatives and borough wardens in accordance with the amended Local Government Act (地方制度法) passed by the legislature in January 2010.
“It is an important reform that allows people to calmly and securely plan for their future, as well as the future of the nation and our society,” Ma said.
While Ma said that reforms would need time to be implemented effectively.
He also said “reforms should absolutely not be halted,” adding that in his second term he would spare no effort in giving Taiwan a makeover.
If we do not enact reforms quickly and on a grand scale, “we will once more be forgotten by the world,” Ma said.
“Being a member of the KMT, I must do everything in my power to ensure that this century-old political party stands up to public scrutiny,” Ma said, adding that he would not be afraid to implement changes where they are needed, “because the people support us, the party’s members support us; so let us strive onward to a better future.”
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