By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) fared better than her campaign rival, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), in a report card on their anti-poverty policies, a civic group said yesterday.
The evaluation by the Anti-Poverty Association (APA) gave Tsai four A’s and two B’s, while Ma, who is seeking re-election in the January presidential election, obtained two B’s and four C’s.
“It’s only natural for an opposition party to fare better in such examinations because it is the ruling party that has to carry out what it promised,” said Chien Hsi-chieh , director of the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan, which is a member of the APA.
The APA, an alliance of several civic grops, met Tsai and Ma on June 28 and July 1 respectively to inquire about their policies on poverty issues, including student assistance programs, part-time jobs, debt clearance, care for the working poor and the homeless, as well as social housing.
Both campaigns submitted their written response within a week, Chien said.
Tsai, who listed wealth redistribution as one of her core policies, expressed her support for almost every category advocated by the association, Chien said.
“However, action speaks louder than words,” Chien said, adding that the DPP had to push legislation in the legislature to show its determination.
The association said it would also re-examine accomplishments by the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) before the end of the year, when it is scheduled to release a “voters’ guide” ahead of the presidential poll.
Tsai pledged to support multiple student assistance programs to help students from poor families, an amendment to Consumer Debt Clearance Regulations (消費者債務清理條例) to help credit-card borrowers restructure their debt, and more assistance and care for the homeless and the working poor — people who have regular employment, but live in relative poverty.
Tsai also agreed that part-time employment should only be a supplementary measure and that part-timers should receive the same compensation as regular workers.
Ma and officials in his administration were generally “vague” in their responses, which Chien said was “disappointing.”
Ma said that most of the ideas advocated by the APA could be resolved with current measures.
He said that as scholarships offered by various schools were sufficient to help poor students, there was no need to amend regulations.
He held the same view regarding legislation to help the homeless and the working poor.
“Homeless people have never been evicted by law enforcement officials,” he said in his response.
Kuo Ying-ching (郭盈靖), a member of the Homeless of Taiwan organization, saw things differently.
“Anyone in homeless service organizations and anyone who has witnessed what is happening on the street will tell you that is not the case,” Kuo said.
Neither candidate elaborated on their policy on family caregivers.
Ma, who received a C in this category, did not respond at all, while Tsai, who was given a B, only pledged to support the legislation, said Yuan Hui-wen (袁慧文) of the Taiwan Association of Family Caregivers.