Civic Groups Urge President Lai to Push Structural Reforms on 2nd Anniversary of Administration

(CNA, Taipei, 20th, by reporter Lin Ching-yin) On the second anniversary of President Lai Ching-te's administration, the Taiwan Forward Alliance, composed of the New Power Party, Taiwan Statebuilding Party, Taiwan Obasan Political Equality Party, and the Green Party, held a press conference today. They called on the Lai government to seize the best economic dividend in history to promote structural reforms and move Taiwan forward through executive power. The Taiwan Forward Alliance held a press conference today in front of the Chun-Hsien Building of the Legislative Yuan with the theme 'Economic Growth Must Be Shared, Social Safety Must Be Strengthened.' New Power Party Chairwoman Wang Wan-yu stated that President Lai's two years in office have presented a very contradictory report card. While Taiwan's economic growth over the past two years has been impressive, many people do not feel this growth. The answer lies in the word 'distribution,' as an imbalance in distribution will ultimately shake the foundations of democracy. She expressed hope that President Lai can see the problem, propose a direction for reform, and continue to advance, which will allow Taiwan's democracy to continue to grow in resilience. Wu Hsin-tai, a Taipei City Councilor candidate from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, said that no matter how good a system is, it cannot be sustained without adequate personnel and funding. Citing the recently passed three-shift nurse-to-patient ratio in the Legislative Yuan, she noted that after recruiting enough nursing staff, funding is also necessary; otherwise, the ratio will just become a political achievement without being implemented. She called for national investment in healthcare to be increased to the OECD average, stating that now is the best time, and that the National Health Insurance payment system must be reformed simultaneously. Lin Hsiao-wei, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Obasan Political Equality Party, said that in recent years, the declining birthrate has become a national security issue. Although government spending on childcare and childbirth subsidies has continued to increase, public anxiety has not disappeared. The problem has never been about whether there are subsidies, but whether these subsidies are truly effective. She stated that the national system must treat true childcare as a shared responsibility of both parents and society, allowing people to live with peace of mind, plan for the future, and dare to have the next generation, for Taiwan to have a real future. Taiwan Statebuilding Party Chairman Wang Hsing-huan said that on the second anniversary of President Lai's administration, the most serious consequence of the political turmoil of the past two years is not the revision or deletion of certain bills, or even the paralysis of national governance. Rather, it is the ruling team's indecisiveness or hesitation, which has led to a collective sense of confusion about the political direction and a collective feeling of powerlessness in political participation within civil society. He called on President Lai, in this time of national crisis, to present a clear, grand, and concrete political agenda to uplift public morale and unite public opinion, providing the foundation to defend Taiwan's sovereignty, deepen democratic resilience, and implement fairness and justice, so that Taiwan can sweep away the gloom and stagnation of the past two years. (Editor: Su Chih-tsung)