Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Saturday that if political figures only think about themselves and dwell in the past, they will be fearful of reform and be unable to move forward on the path of progress with the people.
The president made the remarks when he addressed the opening of new classes at the Ketagalan Academy, a school founded by himself and with the aim of nurturing future leaders of the nation.
"If political figures only think about themselves, then they will only be able to dwell in the past and try to cling to their privileges and position, " the president said, adding that such political figures "are antagonistic toward reform, fearful of democracy, and mistrustful of the people." He said that politicians with this mentality will be unable to move forward with the people and could even plunge the nation into danger.
Faced with the nation's woes accumulated over five decades of authoritarian rule, Chen said, the people have long aspired for reform, which he said could not be accomplished over the course of a single presidential term.
Referring to the 2000 presidential election in which the KMT regime which had ruled the nation for more than 50 years was swept out of power, Chen said "we should not unrealistically think that the problems accumulated over the past five decades can evaporate in one day." "Nor should we expect that those political figures who are opposed to democracy, reform and progress will suddenly turn around and become the standard bearers of reform."
Chen said that "what we should be going after is enlisting more reform-minded people to join the reform campaign" so that the force of reform will gain broader support and the nation will be able to move forward.
The president also said that the road to reform is long and winding and the resistance of the anti-reformists is "beyond your imagination, " but he added that if one cannot bear the pain of carrying out reform or if one withdraws because of fear of losing power, then all previous efforts and sacrifices will be washed down the drain.
The president noted that many people have asked him why he has spent so much time and money in setting up the Ketagalan Academy instead of using them to develop the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), of which he concurrently serves as chairman, or for his re-election bid.
Chen stressed that he had said at the inauguration of the school in March of this year that it "is not a DPP school and will not serve specific individuals, but instead will be open to all people and serve as a platform for communication and exchanges on democratic ideals." "The significance of the school is to quicken the pace of Taiwan's democratic reforms," the president said.
He said that as a figure who has dedicated himself to politics, his task is to care about the people, and not about his own interests.
He said that if political figures think only about the people, then they will be able to courageously shoulder the reform responsibilities even if this means having an adverse effect on their own power and position.