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Koo Kwang-ming calls for Ma to resign
immediately
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former presidential advisor Koo
Kwang-ming points to a chart showing President Ma Ying-jeou’s falling approval
rate during a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming
(辜寬敏) yesterday called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to resign because of his
dismal approval rating and after a re-election win that he said was “heavy with
US and Chinese interference.”
“How does a president with an approval rate of 19 percent lead a country? What
legitimacy does he have?” Koo asked a press conference.
Ma’s approval rate dropped to 18.7 percent on Sunday, its lowest level in nearly
three years, according to a survey by the Taiwan Brain Trust think tank.
Koo, 85, said that because of Ma’s lack of legitimacy and the unprecedented
foreign influence in the Jan. 14 presidential election, he should resign
immediately and postpone the presidential inauguration for three months.
Ma’s approval rate was at about 38 percent in November and December last year
before he received a 51.6 percent share of the vote in the election, but his
support rate fell to 26 percent 40 days after the election and then hit a new
low on Sunday, Koo said.
If Ma refuses to resign, members of the public who disagree with his governance
would take to the streets and make the same demand, Koo said.
The senior independence advocate said the “suspicious” peak of 51.6 percent
could be related to interference from Beijing and Washington.
Koo added that this had cast a shadow over Taiwan’s democracy, with Taiwanese in
danger of having their right to elect a leader and their future taken from them.
Koo made clear his displeasure with Washington, saying that while Taiwan-US
relations are important and Taiwan is a small country, the US should not
interfere in its elections.
The US has spent a lot of money and deployed many troops to protect Japan and
South Korea, he said, but it has underestimated Taiwan’s strategic importance in
East Asia.
Koo also called for Ma to grant a presidential pardon to former president Chen
Shui-bian (陳水扁) to ensure social stability.
Ma’s retaliation against Chen has been “too much” and it has given Taiwanese the
feeling that “Mainlanders” do not like “Taiwanese presidents,” he said.
“Ma will step down some day and I believe there will be a lot of reasons to put
him behind bars, but we can’t lock up every former president in prison,” he
said.
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