By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) legislator-at-large list leaves a lot to be desired.
While the KMT’s nomination of representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is commendable, DPP spokesperson Kang Yu-cheng (康裕成) said the rest of the list showed the KMT had not cut its ties with so-called “black gold” politicians and local factions.
“At first glance, [the list] appeared refreshing, but as you scroll down the list, your heart sinks,” she told a press conference. “The 34-member list seemed to be part of [President] Ma [Ying-jeou (馬英九)] and his top aide, King Pu-tsung’s (金溥聰), plan to squeeze out party members whose views differ from theirs.”
Wu Yu-jen (吳育仁) and Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉), who ranked seventh and 10th on the list, both told acquaintances that they are members of the “Knife Gang” — suggesting their relations with King, who has been nicknamed “King the Knife,” Kang said.
Female candidates Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄), Wang Mei-chih (王美只) and Wu Chen Chiung-chiu (吳陳瓊秋) are all wives of KMT politicians who were involved in bribery or financial scandal cases, while Hsu Teh-hsin (徐德韾), who ranked 27th on the list, was involved in a controversial NT$2 billion (US$66.2 million) land development case in Hsinchu, Kang said.
In other developments, Ma yesterday met with Taiwan Organization for Disadvantaged Patients secretary-general Yang Yu-xing (楊玉欣) — who is on the legislator-at-large list — and representatives of other civic groups.
In response to Yang’s plea for the government to allocate more money for social welfare programs, Ma said the government would take her advice seriously and work to implement it.
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih