|
Lawmakers accuse
president of media interference
By Chen Yan-ting and Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter, with staff
writer
Lawmakers across party lines on Thursday accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of
interfering with media independence amid reports that the president had
telephoned the top managers of five local media companies in an attempt to
reverse public opinion about his move to strip Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng
(王金平) of his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) membership.
Local media reports on Thursday said that with a majority of the public
sympathizing with Wang in the so-called “September political strife,” the
president had called the managers of two TV news stations and the chief editors
of three newspapers in a bid to “turn the tables” in his favor.
The political strife, which critics said was orchestrated by Ma against Wang,
refers to allegations of improper lobbying by the speaker on behalf of
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in a legal matter,
and the subsequent decision by the KMT’s Central Evaluation and Discipline
Committee to revoke Wang’s party membership on Sept. 11.
The decision could have invalidated Wang’s status as a KMT legislator-at-large
and thus deprived him of the speakership were it not for a court ruling on
Wang’s injunction request on Sept. 15, allowing him to retain his party
membership and rights until the case is settled by the courts.
The KMT filed an appeal with a higher court on Monday and a ruling is expected
next week.
KMT Legislator Chen Ken-te (陳根德) said it was apparent that Ma made the telephone
calls in an attempt to intervene in media operations.
“Was it really necessary for a head of state to personally give orders to the
media over such a small case?” Chen asked, adding that such calls were
inappropriate regardless of what Ma said during the telephone conversations.
People First Party Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) said that from a judicial
perspective, Ma should have avoided handling the incident because as KMT
chairman, he was also an interested party in the case.
“How could Ma reach his black hands into media operations to try to influence
the ruling [next week]? He is doing the opposite of his repeated pledge to
protect judicial independence,” Chen said.
He said Ma should exercise self-discipline and refrain from undermining newsroom
and judicial autonomy.
However, a senior KMT member who requested anonymity defended Ma’s move, saying
the president only called to express his gratitude to the media companies for
“taking into account the significance of judicial independence when reporting
about the incident.”
|
