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Chen’s office asks public for small
donations
EVERY LITTLE BIT: The office hopes to raise enough money to keep the
operation running until February now that the former president’s perks have been
canceled
By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Sep 02, 2010, Page 3
A toy figure of former president Chen
Shui-bian is seated yesterday beside a poster of a handcuffed Chen in the former
president’s office, which is continuing to operate in his absence and is seeking
public donations after the former president’s perks were canceled.
PHOTO: CNA
The office of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday announced
belt-tightening measures and asked for public donations to sustain its daily
operations until February after a recent amendment revoked Chen’s perks as a
former head of state.
Chen Sung-shan (陳淞山), manager of Chen’s office, said it would continue to
operate despite the financial difficulty. To sustain the NT$540,000 (US$16,800)
monthly expenses, he said the office would implement austerity measures to cut
costs.
The five office employees have agreed to a salary cut of 20 percent and the Neo
Formosa Weekly magazine will become a biweekly publication, he said.
BOOK REVENUE
They also hoped to raise some money when the office launches a book written by
the former president.
Chen Sung-shan urged the public to make donations of small amounts, saying they
hoped to raise NT$4 million to finance daily operations until February. If
things did not go well, he said he was willing to borrow money with his own
credit.
Since the “one country on each side of the Taiwan Strait alliance” has 35
members standing in the November elections, Chen Sung-shan said he was confident
that between 80 percent and 90 percent of them would be elected and then they
could address the funding problem.
The legislature on Aug. 19 passed an amendment to the Act Governing Preferential
Treatment for Retired Presidents and Vice Presidents (卸任總統副總統禮遇條例) introduced by
the KMT caucus.
The amendment stipulates that former presidents and vice presidents will be
stripped of courtesy treatment, including their monthly allowance and annual
expenses, if convicted by a court of grave offenses, such as sedition or graft.
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