Wu apologizes for legislators' intrusion
　

'ASHAMED': Ma Ying-jeou said the KMT will be more careful in the future and that whether Hsieh's campaign is illegally leasing the office building is a public issue
　

By Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Mar 14, 2008, Page 3
　

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday led four party legislators to apologize for barging into Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign headquarters on Wednesday, vowing to bring party legislators' behavior under control.

"The four legislators went to an inappropriate place at an inappropriate time, caused social turmoil and cast a shadow on the election," Wu told a press conference yesterday afternoon.

Describing his feelings in response to the incident as "sad, sorry and ashamed."

Wu said: "I am asking all party members to keep a distance from our rivals' campaign events and avoid conflicts. We will step aside whenever they are campaigning."

KMT legislators Alex Fai (費鴻泰), Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才), Chen Chieh (陳杰) and Luo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) barged into Hsieh's Taipei campaign office on Wednesday afternoon with allegations that First Commercial Bank had waived the rental fees of the office.

The legislators, who demanded Minister of Finance Ho Chih-chin (何志欽) come with them, soon ignited into verbal and physical clashes with Hsieh supporters, who lambasted the legislators for trespassing.

In a report presented at the press conference, the KMT said the incident was an official inspection and was not an incident of trespassing on private property nor was there kicking of doors by the KMT legislators as the DPP has claimed.

"I am willing to apologize to the public for the chaos we created. I am also willing to extend my apology to Mr. Hsieh if he feels uncomfortable and is upset by the incident," said Fai at the press conference.

Fai had offered his resignation as the party's caucus whip late on Wednesday night. He said he would quit his post and leave politics forever should the DPP produce any evidence proving that he "kicked open" the campaign headquarters' doors.

Lo also apologized to KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for the possible the impact on his election bid, adding he "did not expect that a simple on-the-spot inspection would turn into a violent clash."

Lo offered his resignation as a finance committee member in the legislature and said he would support a non-KMT legislator taking over his position. Chen and Luo also offered apologies.

Ma, offering his apology yesterday, pledged to examine the behavior of the party's legislators.

He said the KMT would be more cautious about exercising its rights in the legislature, while urging the DPP not to sensationalize the incident.

At a separate setting yesterday, Hsieh warned against the danger of one-party control of both the legislature and the executive, urging the public to use their ballots to see justice is done.

Hsieh promised that if elected, he would protect the safety and the basic human rights of every individual.

"It is a problem that concerns not only me but also the general public," he said.

Hsieh said it is all nice and well that Ma apologized, but it shows he cannot control his party's legislators.

As Ma yesterday said that it was a public issue whether Hsieh's campaign was illegally leasing the office building, Hsieh said he had no problem discussing the issue. However, it was another issue for KMT legislators to barge into his campaign headquarters and then condemn the violence of his team members.

"It is to mistake the effect for the cause," he said. "It is like a woman who is sexually harassed by a man and slaps the man on the face. The man turns around and then accuses the woman of brutality."

Lawmakers behaving badly


Friday, Mar 14, 2008, Page 8

Less than a week after the arrogance of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators was exposed for all to see as they put partisanship and self-interest above the well-being of the nation by blocking sunshine bills and busting a deal with the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union, the public on Wednesday was again offered a shocking example of how a political party's comfortable control of a two-thirds majority in the Legislative Yuan is slowly boosting the self-importance of its lawmakers.

Accusing the state-run First Commercial Bank of waiving the lease on Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign office in Taipei, KMT caucus whip Alex Fai (費鴻泰) barged into the office late on Wednesday afternoon with fellow KMT legislators Chen Chieh (陳杰), Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) and Luo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾).

The lawmakers ignored a security guard's query and went straight to the campaign office on the 13th floor, sparking verbal and physical clashes with DPP supporters.

Although police were called in to maintain order and did remove the lawmakers for trespassing on private property, they nevertheless did not apprehend them according to Article 306 of the Criminal Code (刑法), which stipulates that it is illegal to break into private households, vehicles and ocean-going vessels without authorization. Instead, police from Zhongshan Precinct limited themselves to politely escorting the lawmakers out of the building.

In contrast, DPP supporters, who were trying to prevent the lawmakers from fleeing the "crime scene," were manhandled by the police.

Granted, lawmakers have a right to conduct inspections in accordance with the Law Governing Legislators' Exercise of Power (立法委員職權行使法), but they should be carried out according to due process and not by ignoring legal protocol. Since when do lawmakers have the power of prosecutors to investigate people and private property? If this arrogance persists, how long will it be before people are woken in the middle of night by legislators barging in without a warrant?

The presidential election is less than 10 days away. What were these four lawmakers thinking? With feelings running high in both camps, even a fool should know better than to step on opposition territory with such aggression.

Aware of the potential damage from the incident, KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) -- after initial remarks condemning the violence and calling on both sides to exercise self-restraint -- offered his regrets and apologized twice on Wednesday night after learning that KMT lawmakers had provoked the incident.

Meanwhile, on the day of the incident, there were allegations in a magazine that KMT Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) possessed dual citizenship while serving as an elected official. Although Lee said she had long given up her US citizenship, she declined to specify when and how, leaving doubts as to whether she, during her decades in public office, has violated Article 20 of the Nationality Law (國籍法), which stipulates that foreign citizens are prohibited from holding government posts.

Lawmakers are elected to work for the common good of the people. It seems that certain lawmakers more often than not are troublemakers themselves, however, and have a hard time abiding by the laws they themselves brought into being.