Not Ready to Retire

(Page 20 on English Digest, April 1991) 

原文刊載於<<實用空中美語文摘>> 中華民國八十年四月號 第20頁

     Senior deputies who last faced elections in mainland China some four decades ago have turned their resistance to the ruling Kuomintang (KMT)-initiated retirement program into concrete action by forming a coalition in Taipei yesterday.

     Four aging National Assembly (NA) members and three senior mainland-elected lawmakers who founded the “association to Promote the Protection of the Constitution,” yesterday said they will retire “according to the law, but not according to the party’s wishes.”

     The KMT has drafted the retirement program to retire 113 senior lawmakers in three stages within two years, with the deadline slated as Dec. 31 this year, but the program has not been supported by the party elders, who have refused to retire.

     In order to ensure that some 10 less controversial bills be passed during the last Legislature session which ended Jan 18, the KMT promised to retire 28 senior lawmakers before the new Legislature session convenes on Feb. 26.

     However, so far only six deputies have submitted their applications for retirement, showing that the ruling party’s plan may be thwarted.

     Some seniors said they refused to retire because they felt they were being cheated by the ruling party. “I did what my party told me to do, but have they (the KMT) paid attention to what I need?” one senior noted.

----------

我們的島內鄉親們的無奈、無力、與無言。

經過20多年，淹沒在顢頇臉孔與貪腐人性裡的，還是鄉親們的自由意願，始終對不起選民們的，還是黨、黨主席、黨鞭、黨意。

金門、馬祖、澎湖等離島的鄉親們，長久以來的自立自強、奮鬥不懈，也沒有棄本島而獨立或偏倚，怎不令人汗顏??

------------