KMT To Stage Protest, Demands Resignations Over Food Safety Scandal
A scandal over contaminated cooking oil has become a political flashpoint ahead of local elections in November. Weeks after cooking oil containing excessive levels of a carcinogen was found to have been used by hundreds of schools and more than a thousand businesses, authorities say testing has been completed and a task force is investigating the production process. The main opposition Kuomintang is planning a protest and is demanding resignations over the incident. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party says lawmakers should focus on strengthening food safety laws instead of assigning blame.
Weeks after cooking oil containing excessive levels of a carcinogen was found to be used by hundreds of schools and over a thousand businesses... Taiwan's food and drug administration says they've finished testing the affected batches and are launching a task force to inspect the production process.
Officials are trying to figure out how tainted cooking oil was left sitting on shelves for weeks... a food safety issue that sparked the recall of thousands of metric tons of oil and garnered public controversy.
The opposition Kuomintang says the government is to blame... and plans to march in front of the Presidential Office on Saturday, after their national congress, to express their anger.
CHEN I-HSIN, CHAIR, KMT CULTURE AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE (Taipei)
After the party congress ends at 3 pm, we will begin gathering on Ketagalan Boulevard from 5 pm for our anti-toxic food march. It will run from 6 pm to 8 pm. We invite all of our central committee members, party representatives and local leaders to participate.
Some KMT members have also taken up a hunger strike to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the government. They want to see officials step down... including the premier and health minister.
But lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party say cooperation... rather than blame... will better prevent future incidents.
FAN YUN, DPP CAUCUS LEADER (Taipei)
Accountability is certainly necessary. But more importantly, it's clear from this latest case that the Food Safety Act has deficiencies. After the last major round of amendments, many problems were addressed, but there are still shortcomings. How can we address these remaining deficiencies? I believe that requires cross-party cooperation to properly amend the law in the legislature.
Premier Cho Jung-tai echoes the need for cooperation... as the Cabinet is set to announce a draft amendment later this week.
With the opposition coalition controlling a majority of the legislature, any amendment will need their support to pass.
As the two sides exchange barbs, this oil controversy has become a major issue ahead of critical local elections later this year... meaning how each party handles it... could be reflected in how people vote.
