Noting that ethics and integrity are essential to those aspiring to engage in politics and social movements, former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) yesterday said that empty campaign promises have cheapened Taiwanese politics.
In a speech delivered at an event organized by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Yilan County, Lin said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) made many pledges during his presidential campaign that he failed to honor after being elected.
Among the well-known examples of Ma’s unfulfilled campaign pledges are his “6-3-3” promise made in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election — annual GDP growth of 6 percent, unemployment of less than 3 percent and a per capita yearly income of US$30,000.
Saying that he would rather talk to his building’s management staff than meet with Ma, whom he said deceived people with false promises and abused his power after being elected, Lin added that the position of the president has become seemingly so worthless that he did not even want to bother running.
“All of the political parties will fail, because they court their own self-destruction with lies,” Lin said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is on the verge of destruction for lying to the public so much, Lin added, calling for the “third force” — parties not affiliated with either the KMT or the DPP — not to become another KMT should they manage to overthrow it.
“Those who fight with monsters must be careful not to become monsters themselves,” Lin said.
Those in the realms of politics and social movements have to commit themselves to something they can be proud of and place public interests above their own, while establishing a deep connection with Taiwan, Lin said.
In related news, SDP convener Fan Yun (范雲) on Saturday said that the newly formed party was preparing for next year’s legislative elections by raising campaign funds through small donations.
Fan accused the KMT of using its enormous party assets as political leverage, saying that the electoral imbalance created by money could not be solved unless the KMT loses its majority in the legislature in next year’s elections, after which the KMT’s asset issues could be properly dealt with.
Politicians could collude with large business groups to manipulate legislation at the expense of workers’ rights, she said, adding that the SDP is against such a venal practice and would be campaigning on small donations.
The SDP insists on limiting the size of campaign donations and will launch a series of online fund-raising campaigns soon, Fan said.
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