New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who is the only candidate running for the chairmanship of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), on Sunday pledged to make an effort to narrow the wealth gap, saying that to achieve the goal, taxes on wealthy people must be raised and those on the working class should be lowered.
One important thing is “allowing wealthy people and capitalists to be able to earn reasonable profits and letting them share the money they have made with the general public,” Chu said at a presentation of political platforms in New Taipei City.
It was the first of 11 presentations planned by the KMT for its chairman election, which is slated for Jan. 17. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) resigned from the post on Dec. 3 in response to the losses the party suffered in the Nov. 29 local elections.
The presentations are to be held in cities and counties around the nation.
Chu is the only KMT candidate to have been elected in a mayoral election in one of the six special municipal cities — Taipei, New Taipei City, Greater Taoyuan, Greater Taichung, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung.
On Sunday, Chu proposed a revision to the Company Act (公司法) that would see the profits of a company first spent on wage hikes for employees. He also said that “it is not right” that stock dividends enjoyed by the wealthy have reduced taxes or are exempt.
Meanwhile, Chu reiterated his pledge to promote reform of the Constitution, including switching to a parliamentary system, in which power and responsibility would go hand in hand.
Under the current system, power is shared by a popularly elected president and his appointed premier. However, the system has long been criticized as incommensurate, since power holders are not held responsible for their performance.
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