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Wang vows KMT
loyalty, says Ma ‘misled’ by SID
DECEPTIVE DIVISION: The legislative speaker said
the SID had deceived Ma with ‘incorrect’ information, but Ma said Wang was
evading the accusations against him
By Chris Wang and Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporters
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng,
center, waves to supporters as he arrives at Taiwan Taoyuan International
Airport last night after a trip to Malaysia.
Photo: Taipei Times
People hold a banner expressing
support for Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng as they wait for his arrival at
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport last night.
Photo: CNA
Presidential Office Deputy
Secretary-General Lo Chih-chiang holds a press conference regarding
influence-peddling allegations involving Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng in
Taipei yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平)
yesterday pledged loyalty to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) upon his return
to Taiwan and accused the Special Investigation Division (SID) of conducting a
one-sided investigation into accusations of influence-peddling against him that
have “misled” President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Speaking to hundreds of supporters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Wang
denied that he had interfered with the judiciary and said the division’s
investigation and its disclosure and distribution of his telephone records was
illegal and unconstitutional.
“I’m back now and ready to give my statement. Hopefully, the president will not
be deceived by the unilateral and incorrect information he has been given by the
SID,” Wang said.
Wang has been in Malaysia to attend the wedding of one of his daughters since
Friday, the day that division announced his alleged misconduct in a press
conference.
Responding to the legislative speaker’s statement, presidential spokesperson Lo
Chih-chiang (羅智強) told a 10pm press conference that Ma “was disappointed with
Wang’s statement,” because he had evaded the allegations altogether.
The SID on Friday accused Wang, former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫)
and High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) of influence
peddling on behalf of DPP Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
Tseng subsequently resigned, but insisted he was not guilty.
Ma has described Wang’s alleged influence peddling as “the most shameful day in
Taiwan’s democratic history” and the KMT was reportedly mulling expelling Wang,
which could strip him of his position as legislative speaker.
Wang called for the committee to “avoid making the same mistake of unilateralism
as the SID” when it reviews the case, adding that the division had not
questioned him once during the entire investigation.
Wang neither resigned from his post as speaker or KMT member, nor launched any
retaliation against Ma or the party.
In his statement, Wang reiterated that he had always been a staunch supporter of
the KMT and a member who would do everything to perform his duties.
The telephone conversation with Tseng and Chen that the SID based its
accusations on had been about prosecutors’ abuse of power, which was a concern
of lawmakers, not a bid to influence an individual case, Wang said.
The senior politician spent a large part of his statement accusing the SID of
going beyond its authorization, as the division “was only authorized to probe
into corruption cases of the presidents of the five government branches.”
Ker cited Wang’s speech in a separate press release last night as proof that
there was no misconduct between the two and called for Ma to apologize for
initiating the political turmoil and abolish the SID.
A number of KMT lawmakers, including Deputy Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), showed
their support by welcoming Wang at the airport.
Earlier yesterday, Ma said he could “not just sit by” as the case unfolds,
because Wang’s alleged misconduct was “intolerable.”
Citing the president’s statements, Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General
Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) gave a statement at an impromptu press conference in
response to former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), who had criticized Ma in an
angry statement given through his assistant, Ting Yuan-chao (丁遠超).
“We hope that Lien understands that the public has high expectations of a
judiciary free from any political influence,” Lo said.
The involvement of a legislative speaker in influence peddling was not something
Ma said he could just endure, Lo said.
Ting said Lien was unhappy with how Ma handled the case, referring to Sunday’s
press conference where Ma explicitly said Wang had meddled in judicial affairs
before Wang had a chance to explain himself.
Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) told a press conference at 10pm that
Wang had “avoided” responding to the SID’s accusations.
The investigation conducted by the SID was conducted in line with the law and
the Constitution, Huang said, dismissing Wang’s allegations that the SID
illegally tapped Ker’s phone and illegally made public the transcript of the
wiretapping.
Huang reiterated that the SID has presented “strong evidence,” as shown in the
transcript of the wiretapping and communications record between Wang and Tseng,
and Wang and Chen, to prove that Wang was involved in the case.
On Friday, the SID disclosed its investigation alleging that Wang had lobbied
for Ker in a breach of trust lawsuit.
Lien was quoted by Ting as saying that Ma should not have humiliated Wang
because Wang, who has 30-plus years of service in the legislature and as
speaker, should be given the basic minimum of respect he deserves.
“Why did Ma quickly jump to conclusions when Wang had not had an opportunity to
explain himself, and when the other people involved in the case gave conflicting
accounts of the matter and the full picture remained unclear?” Lien was quoted
as saying.
Lien urged Ma to handle the case according to the principles of party
solidarity, societal harmony and national stability to avoid turmoil, Ting said.
Lo said it was not Ma who had disrespected Wang, “but Wang who did not respect
the judiciary.”
“We have to say this: President Ma did not intend to humiliate Wang. Rather, it
was Wang who brought shame on the judiciary when he made the phone calls [to
Chen and Tseng],” Lo said.
Lo then directed two questions at Lien: “If a legislative speaker is permitted
to meddle in a lawsuit and is not held responsible for undermining the
credibility of the judicial system which is supposed to defend social justice,
will the country still remain stable?” and, “If a legislative speaker is
permitted to meddle in a lawsuit and is not held responsible, can the KMT still
make itself acceptable to the people and to its members and can the party
maintain unity? Could it be that KMT members are willing to unite in a party
where influence peddling is permissible?”
Meanwhile, Hung was rumored to be Ma’s first choice to replace Wang as head of
the legislature.
A high-level official at the Presidential Office who requested anonymity told
reporters last night that the idea of Hung leading the legislature was “not
bad,” praising Hung for her “integrity” and “being loyal to the KMT.”
The official said he did not see any reason why the legislature should become
dysfunctional without Wang’s leadership.
“Over the past 15 years, the nation has been under stewardship of three
presidents. In a democracy, there is no position that must be occupied by a
certain person,” he said.
It was rumored that Hung would pair up with KMT Legislator Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池),
the party’s Policy Committee chief, in an election for speaker and deputy
speaker if Wang were expelled from the party.
The KMT’s Disciplinary Committee is to meet to determine Wang’s fate at 9:30am
today, KMT spokesman Yin Wei (殷瑋) said, as Hung and Lin remained tight-lipped
over the issue.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a KMT lawmaker who is close to Hung said
that party leaders might have miscalculated that Hung would obey their orders to
invoke police power to force through bills in the legislature because she was
also opposed to the use of police power in the legislature.
Meanwhile, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday reiterated a strong hint that
Wang should resign as speaker because he was no longer qualified for the
position now that his integrity is in doubt.
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