Taipei Times
Date: May 22, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff reporter

Long-time political activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) yesterday announced his

Veteran political activist Shih Ming-te yesterday announces at a Taipei news conference that he plans to enter the race for next year’s presidential elections. Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times

presidential bid, saying that he aimed to bring about cross-strait reconciliation and implement social justice, while lashing out at “conventional” politicians who he said had betrayed the public.

“In each successive administration, we see politicians betraying their ideologies, tearing the nation apart and losing direction,” Shih, a founding member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who broke ties with the party in 2000, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday morning. “There is no leadership in Taiwan, just decisions based on the interaction of power and interests, and the public no longer has any expectations of a new dawn.”

“Along the path of revolution, I have made narrow escapes from the dictator’s knife, and eventually, I knew I would have to engage in a duel with these dirty politicians,” Shih said.     [FULL  STORY]