Sat, Oct 17, 2015 page3

• Ex-SEF official disgusted by Chu, KMT maneuvers

  • By Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter
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  Former Straits Exchange Foundation secretary-general C.V. Chen (陳長文), a longtime acquaintance of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), yesterday said that the recent political hubbub surrounding the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has prompted him to reach the conclusion that such a party might as well collapse.

  “While I had issues with the KMT’s campaign for the 2016 presidential and legislative elections, I had been inclined to vote for the party for the sake of stable cross-strait ties,” Chen said in an op-ed published by the Chinese-language China Times yesterday.

  However, Chen said the KMT’s “preposterous behavior” in two recent events had made him lose his appetite for both the party’s presidential and legislative candidates.

  

  Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu, who is also the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate, presides over a meeting at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times

  “Suddenly, I feel like this kind of party is better off falling from power,” Chen wrote.

  Chen criticized Chu’s attitudinal U-turn — from his insistence on not vying for the presidency, despite mounting calls from within his party, to his aggressive move to force KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) out of the Jan. 16 race without regard for procedural justice.

  Such a move has not only enraged many members of the public, Hung’s supporters included, but dealt a heavy blow to Chu’s campaign prospects because it runs against the principle of righteousness, Chen said.

  “The KMT justifies Chu’s self-damaging move as a well-intentioned attempt to salvage the party and prop up the sagging campaign momentum of its legislative candidates. But the question is, are legislative candidates of this kind of KMT worth saving?” Chen said.

  Chen also cited a controversial move by 17 KMT lawmakers, who recently blocked the implementation of an amendment to the Regulations Governing the Building of Agricultural Houses on Agricultural Land (農業用地興建農舍辦法) by the Ministry of the Interior by changing its status from “filed for reference” to “review.”

  The change of status would allow legislators to delete, make changes and express opinions on the amendment, actions that would not occur if it is simply “filed for reference” by the competent administrative body.

  The amendment, which stipulates that only farmers will be allowed to construct farmhouses, is aimed at curbing price speculation on farmland and discouraging construction of non-agricultural buildings on areas designated as agricultural land.

  It was approved by the ministry on Sept. 3.

  “I wonder if the interests of Taiwan still mean anything to these KMT lawmakers,” Chen said, urging the public to vote against the party in the upcoming elections.

  It would be better for both the country and the KMT if the party is destroyed and rebuilt again, he added.
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