The administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has done well in disease prevention, but has vacillated on its cross-strait policies, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
On the first day of Tsai’s second term as president, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) extends its congratulations and hopes that the nation can continue improving, said Ko, who is chairman of the party.
“Taiwan has done very well in disease prevention,” Ko said, adding that Taiwanese have cooperated with the government, resulting in a successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has gained international recognition.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
However, a relief payment scheme for uninsured workers and economic revitalization programs are confusing, and need to be improved, he said, citing as an example the undetermined status of an Executive Yuan plan to issue coupons to stimulate domestic consumption.
Reviewing some of the policies enacted by Tsai’s administration in the past four years, Ko said that most people are not satisfied with the progress on judicial reform, low salaries for young people, high housing prices and a low birthrate.
Tsai has a duty to deal with these issues in her second term, he said.
The TPP was pleased that in her inaugural address, Tsai talked about forming a constitutional reform committee and lowering the voting age to 18, which are in line with the party’s political goals, he added.
While the phrase “natural independence” (天然獨) has been used to describe how some young Taiwanese identify themselves, Ko said he thinks a more accurate phrase would be “natural Taiwanese” (天然台), meaning most people who live in Taiwan identify themselves as Taiwanese.
Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been fickle in dealing with a deadlock in cross-strait relations, he said, adding that the TPP thinks that the DPP used the unification-independence issue to deceive the public and garner votes in January’s presidential and legislative elections.
“As the DPP has an absolute majority in the Legislative Yuan, it should be absolutely responsible for its administration,” Ko said.
Tsai’s promotion of the principles of peace, equality, democracy and dialogue when dealing with cross-strait relations in her inaugural address are the core values for maintaining Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, and have been the TPP’s core values since its inception, he said.
“Through the election, Taiwanese gave President Tsai another chance to lead, so the TPP hopes that she will not let the people down,” Ko said.
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