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Lu calls on Ma to apologize to nation
By Lee Hsin-fang / Staff Reporter
Former vice president Annette Lu
speaks at a press conference in Taipei yesterday, saying President Ma Ying-jeou,
who is close to completing his first full term in office, should use the May 20
inauguration as an opportunity to apologize for the failure of his 6-3-3
economic policy.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should
apologize to the nation for his failure to deliver on his 6-3-3 policies, former
vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday.
The “6-3-3” policy refers to Ma’s promise to attain an economic growth rate of 6
percent, lower unemployment to less than 3 percent and increase per capita
income to US$30,000 by this year. The policy was Ma’s main campaign platform for
the 2008 election.
Ma’s inaugural address four years ago started off with criticism of former
president Chen Shui--bian’s (陳水扁) administration, saying: “The people’s trust in
the government has reached its nadir, the political manipulations of the
government has skewed the core values of our society, the people have lost their
sense of safety concerning the economy and international support has also been
damaged to an unprecedented level,” Lu told a press conference yesterday.
However, Ma has put the nation in exactly the position he criticized his
predecessor for, Lu said.
Pointing to his appearances at this year’s Han Kuang military exercises, Lu said
Ma was an unwillingly attendee and only spent six minutes in his final
appearance at the exercises.
He spent more time going to events hosted by the National Women’s League than
making any comments on the situation at the Scarborough Shoal — known as
Huangyan Island (黃岩島) in Taiwan — Taiping Island (太平島), Dongsha Island (東沙島) and
the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), Lu said, referring to islets in the South and East
China Seas where overlapping regional claims have caused tensions.
The Chen administration repeatedly claimed sovereignty over Dongsha and Taiping
islands, so how does Ma explain his inaction, Lu said
Lu also made a number of recommendations to the president.
Premier Sean Chen’s (陳?) Cabinet should stay until the end of the year, because
by then it would be reorganized allowing Ma to focus on political matters.
Ma should break the political barrier dividing the pan-green and pan-blue camps
by reopening the probe into the 319 shooting against her and Chen on the eve of
the 2004 election, she said.
Lu also suggested moving the Executive Yuan and the legislature to central or
southern Taiwan to created a “dual capital,” to reduce the burden on Taipei and
balance north-south development.
The Ma administration should review management salaries at government-funded
agencies and corporations to reduce the number of “fat cats,” she said, adding
that Ma should set an example by reducing his own salary.
Given the ongoing investigations into Taiwan Power Co, the administration should
not increase electricity prices on June 10, she said.
She also called for construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao
District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), to be halted immediately because of
continued concerns about its safety.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
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