ELECTION 2024/TPP says Lai exaggerated social housing achievements

Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on Wednesday accused Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te (賴清德) of exaggerating claims about social housing progress during a televised debate last week.

At a news conference, Vicky Chen (陳智菡), a spokesperson for TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), said Lai’s claim that he had planned or implemented social housing policies while Tainan mayor from 2012 to 2017 had been flagged as “false” by the Taiwan Fact Check Center, an independent nonprofit organization.

According to the Taiwan FactCheck Center, the 8,800 or so social housing units that have been planned or are under construction in Tainan were all contracted out or broke ground under the city’s incumbent Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲).

Meanwhile, Lai’s claim that the number of social housing units provided by the National Housing and Urban Regeneration Center during his stint as premier has surpassed that of local governments was inaccurate, if measuring by completed units, Chen added.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the central government had completed 4,671 units, while local governments had completed 17,559 units as of Dec. 31, 2023.

Chen also called into question Lai’s claim that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will have fulfilled a 2015 campaign promise to provide 120,000 contracted, under-construction and newly built units before her term ends on May 20.

During the debate, Lai said that before Tsai’s term ends on May 20, the central and local governments will have “built” more than 120,000 units and obtained 80,000 subleased units, which means Tsai would not break her promise as opposition parties had said she would.

TPP Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶), who was also present at Wednesday’s press conference, said the majority of the 120,000 units “built” by May 20 will either be contracted or under-construction dwellings, judging by the current rate of social housing expansion.

Of the 91,189 units nationwide counted by the central government when calculating progress on social housing in November last year, 62,860 were still under construction or had just been contracted, the TPP legislator said, citing Ministry of the Interior statistics.

Although the Taiwan Fact Checker did not flag Lai’s claim about providing 120,000 social housing units as false, it did say that the assertion was “oversimplified.”

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the central and local governments had completed, contracted or started work on 94,043 units and accrued 68,540 subleased units from the public, adding up to 162,583 units as of Dec. 31, 2023.