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INTERVIEW: Neil Peng
urges public to recall ‘bad’ lawmakers
Fed up with what it says is the arbitrary policymaking of President Ma Ying-jeou’s
administration — as seen in its demolition of private residences, building of
the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and autocratic handling of the cross-strait
service trade pact — civic group Constitution 133 Alliance has launched a recall
campaign against lawmakers it says have forsaken their duty to be the voice of
the people. In an interview with ‘Liberty Times’ (sister newspaper of the
‘Taipei Times’) reporter Tzou Jiing-wen, screenwriter and author Neil Peng, one
of the founders of the newly formed alliance, called on the public to square up
to incompetent lawmakers and stop them from “bullying” Taiwanese by subjecting
them to recall bids
Neil Peng gestures during an
interview with the Liberty Times on Aug. 15.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Liberty Times (LT): What prompted you
to step forward to found the Constitution 133 Alliance and promote the recall
campaign?
Neil Peng (馮光遠): I thought about doing this when the controversy over the
government-sponsored rock musical Dreamers (夢想家) emerged in 2011. The root cause
of the controversy is undoubtedly President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), because no
government official would ever dare to squander NT$230 million (US$7.67 million)
of taxpayers’ money on a musical performance if not expressly commanded to do so
by the president.
That exorbitant sum — approximately equal to the annual incomes of 100
performing arts groups — was spent in just two nights. This was so preposterous
that howls of rage could be heard all over the country. As artistic performers
ourselves, we [the alliance] are particularly aware of the adverse impact that
this case could have on the performing arts industry.
One of the more recent events that inspired the alliance was the signing of the
cross-strait service trade agreement. People started to realize the possible
threats the pact could pose to the nation after publisher Rex How (郝明義) took
exception to the treaty [How has since resigned from his post as a national
policy adviser.]
National Taiwan University economics department chairwoman Jang Show-ling’s
(鄭秀玲) penetrating analysis of the pact also revealed the alarming fact that the
agreement could be the spark that starts a prairie fire.
LT: Why has the alliance chosen to initiate a recall campaign against
incompetent legislators as the way to right the perceived wrongs in politics and
society?
Peng: Ma has set the nation on fire on numerous occasions and we, the
people, are always the ones left to put out the flames. Since there is no way
our firefighting efforts could ever outpace the government’s rate of sparking
blazes, we asked ourselves: “Why not just get rid of the arsonists?”
Taiwanese voters are accustomed to the idea of having an election every four
years and are always overly excited and enthusiastic during election season.
However, they often feel powerless after realizing that they may have elected
the wrong person, although it is their constitutional right to recall inept
officials.
We must awaken Taiwanese to the realization that this right is an essential
supplement to the democratic electoral system and this is what the recall
campaign is aiming to accomplish. The alliance hopes to depose lawmakers that
only defend and answer to Ma, because such legislators are not the
representatives of the people, they are rubber stamps for the president.
People who think they can stay away from politics and mind their own business
are often the ones who end up suffering the most. They may not be thinking about
politics, but politics affects them regardless. As recent events have taught us,
we must come forward when the nation needs us to — there is no such thing as
keeping out of politics.
I criticize politicians a lot, but critical words will not change anything
because they can always turn a deaf ear to what I am saying. That is why we must
put our words into actions that can put officials under real pressure, and
nothing stresses a lawmaker more than the thought of being recalled.
I believe that there are many Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members who resent
and despise Ma, but are too afraid that they will become the victims of the
KMT’s dirty tactics to speak up. However, by launching the recall campaign we
will be able to subject these lawmakers to the pressure of public opinion.
With his second and final term as president set to expire in 2016, Ma could not
care less about public opinions and people’s views.
However, if the recall effort succeeds, he might have to start watching his
back, because once people start removing incompetent lawmakers aligned with him,
they are just one step away from deposing the president if he implements
policies that go against the public interest.
LT: How do you plan to overcome the high threshold for recalling a
legislator?
Peng: We are planning to distribute letters of commitment to all
legislators asking them whether they are in favor of passing an amendment [to
the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法)] to lower the recall
threshold. Those who oppose the plan would be deemed incompetent lawmakers who
only pursue their personal interests rather than the good of the nation.
We will also ask candidates for next year’s legislative election to include
support for the amendment in their campaign platforms. Those who refuse to do so
will be labeled as thinking that being elected is akin to being given a free
pass that allows them to sit back and cast aside their responsibilities once
they assume office.
As for those who do comply with our requests, we will still monitor their
performance if they are elected.
LT: What concrete measures does the alliance plan on taking to attain its
goals
Peng: Due to financial constraints, we are aiming to launch a blog that
will serve as the starting point for our campaign.
We are also planning to compile a report detailing people’s right to recall,
which we will distribute along with other forms required to remove officials via
the Internet.
Once we draw up a list of the legislators to be included in the recall campaign,
we will publish their names on the blog and begin our recall bid, which requires
a minimum of 2 percent of the total electorate in each legislators’ respective
electoral districts to propose the bid for it to be legitimate. The motion must
also be jointly petitioned by no less than 13 percent of the total electorate if
it is to be put to a vote.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) recently threatened to initiate a recall motion
against lawmakers aligned with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su
Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) or former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). Since every
citizen is entitled to exercise their right to recall elected officials, Wu
should feel free to carry out his threat as long as he has just cause for doing
so.
The selection of legislators to be put up for removal will be carried out mainly
based on their responses to the letters of commitment because unwillingness to
make these pledges is a pretty solid indicator of incompetence.
In addition, we will compare lawmakers’ campaign platforms to what they have
done after being elected to determine if they “qualify” for the campaign, while
conducting an online survey asking people to list the legislators they think are
key figures in the Ma camp.
We plan to finish this preparatory phase within a month and then begin the
recall efforts.
The campaign will judge lawmakers by their performance, rather than their
political affiliation. Those who have lived up to their duties have nothing to
worry about because Taiwanese are not idiots and would never endorse the
baseless removal of an elected representative.
LT: Issues such as the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市)
Gongliao District (貢寮) and the cross-strait service trade pact are not as black
and white as the case of late army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘). Do you think
the public has reached a consensus on these issues?
Peng: Taking the nuclear plant as an example, recent public opinion polls
have shown that, after months of discussions and debates on the fate of the
unfinished plant, the number of people opposed to nuclear energy far exceeds
those who favor it.
This shows that the public has come to realzie that the government’s statistics
on nuclear energy and the plant are outright lies and deceptive strategies, and
that the Ma administration is made up of a bunch of frauds. They have realized
that it is only these fraudsters who are benefiting from political manipulation.
Even though these issues may not be as sensational as the Hung case, they are
closely intertwined with the safety and livelihoods of future generations.
In addition to being the determining factor in the fate of the country’s small
and medium-sized enterprises, the service pact could fuel land and property
speculations, which would make a few individuals wealthy, but be detrimental to
the well-being of the majority.
The bursting of most economic bubbles usually starts with property speculation,
which results in a misallocation of capital toward housing that inevitably leads
to a serious national financial crisis. The upside of all this is that people
are paying more attention to these issues than they did before and I believe it
will only take a little more time for them to start listening.
We all know that ratifying the service trade agreement will be tantamount to
opening the nation’s door to a Chinese Trojan horse.
If people allow the back-room deal to be written into law without subjecting it
to close and thorough scrutiny, they will have no one else to blame but
themselves for the suffering that will ensue.
However, what we are seeing now is people becoming acutely aware of the
dangerous impact the treaty may have, as the government stubbornly turns a deaf
ear to their repeated calls for it to re-negotiate the pact.
If the government insists on defying the people’s will, the public will
eventually find a way to set these wrongs right.
Sure, people are forgetful, but the alliance will be there to refresh their
memories by compiling records of each lawmaker’s remarks during legislative
sessions, which as a matter of record, are something they can neither conceal
nor deny.
Taiwanese voters have been letting politicians off the hook too easily for too
long. That is why we are holding officials to account for the mistakes they make
today and for all the wrong they have done over the years.
Ma’s plummeting approval ratings may be the result of his inaction on and
disregard of a range of national issues, such as the KMT’s illegitimate assets,
the pending “Sunshine bills” and his broken “6-3-3” campaign promise [a pledge
to achieve an annual economic growth rate of 6 percent, annual per capita income
of US$30,000 and annual unemployment of less than 3 percent.]
However, Ma would not have gotten away with his failure to make good on his
campaign promises were it not for some legislators serving as his accomplices.
Will the people care if all of the president’s checks bounce? I think they will
if they take the initiative to punish incompetent lawmakers through recall
petitions.
If we do not square our accounts with politicians now, we will be giving them
permission to keep bullying us.
Translated by Staff Writer Stacy Hsu
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