The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is renowned as the world’s wealthiest political party, which negates its candidate’s complaints about campaign finances in the Kaoshiung mayoral by-election, former vice premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said yesterday.
Kaohsiung City Councilor Jane Lee (李眉蓁), the KMT’s candidate, on Wednesday said that the election was unfair, as she is part of a poorly funded campaign, while Chen, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate, is well-financed.
In a speech, Lee said: “I feel like an impoverished person in this campaign, with a big gap to the wealthy camp.”
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
“It is well-known that the KMT used to be the wealthiest political party in the world. In the past, people often said that if the KMT does not buy votes, it cannot win elections,” Chen said.
“When we look at the KMT’s and the Lee family’s assets, it is clear who are the wealthy ones and who is poor,” Chen said. “We would prefer to have a cordial campaign instead of accusations.”
Separately, Kaohsiung City Councilor Chiu Chun-hsien (邱俊憲), a spokesman for Chen’s campaign office, told a news conference yesterday that the KMT was not blameless after it criticized previous DPP administrations in Kaohsiung over corruption probes they have faced.
“It is well-known that the KMT is the most corrupt party. It has a long list of members convicted of corruption or bribery,” Chiu said.
KMT members should not use erroneous information about former Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), which has misled the public over censures the Control Yuan has issued to officials in her city administrations.
“If the KMT really wants to fight corruption, it should immediately ask its candidate for Kaohsiung, along with her family members who have corruption convictions, to resign from their jobs as agency and company heads in Kaohsiung,” Chiu said.
“It was absurd of the KMT to hold a news conference on fighting corruption, because KMT Secretary-General Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍) was investigated over vote-buying by campaign staff and local wardens” in a previous election, he said.
“The KMT should first ask Lee Chien-lung to resign,” he said.
“KMT members who criticize others only highlight their guilt,” he said.
“However, voters saw that Chen Chi-mai’s service at the legislature is for the people,” Chiu said.
The KMT is trying to frame the DPP’s candidate and his campaign team, but it cannot erase its record of pork-barrel politics and corruption, and its ties to criminal elements,” Chiu said.
Meanwhile, Jane Lee’s campaign announced that former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) would headline her election-eve rally today.
Chen Chi-mai’s camp plans to have President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Vice President William Lai (賴清德) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) attend a rally in Kaohsiung tonight.
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