|
DPP heavyweights
tackle Cabinet, legislature, SID
INTO OCTOBER: Amid more conspiracy claims, the
¡¥September political strife¡¦ is still far from over, as Hsu Hsin-liang called
for the dissolution of the legislature
By Lee Hsin-fang and Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter, with staff
writer and CNA
Former premier Frank Hsieh talks
to the media in Taipei yesterday, saying that the Special Investigation Division
should be abolished.
Photo: CNA
With comments by Prosecutor-General Huang
Shih-ming (¶À¥@»Ê) on Wednesday casting more suspicions of conspiracy over what
media have termed the ¡§September political strife,¡¨ two Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) heavyweights yesterday called for a motion of no confidence against
the Cabinet and the abolition of the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the
Supreme Prosecutors¡¦ Office to restore functions of the nation¡¦s constitutional
system they said were left paralyzed by the incident.
¡§Ever since the September political strife, the three most significant
components of the nation¡¦s constitutional system ¡X president, administrative
branch and legislative body ¡X have become paralyzed and are unable to function
properly,¡¨ former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (³\«H¨}) said at the party¡¦s fifth
Huashan meeting, the latest in a series of nine meetings to be held to discuss
the party¡¦s China policy.
Such a critical constitutional crisis could only be addressed by resorting to
the mechanisms of democracy, Hsu said, calling on the DPP legislative caucus to
initiate a no-confidence motion against Premier Jiang Yi-huah (¦¿©y¾ì).
After the premier is recalled, the party should proceed to demand that Ma
dissolve the legislature to allow a full legislative re-election, he said.
Until then, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (¤ýª÷¥) and DPP caucus whip Ker
Chien-ming (¬_«Ø»Ê) should both run in the election so that people could be the
judge in the alleged improper lobbying case brought against them,¡¨ Hsu said.
Hsu added that Ma¡¦s refusal to dissolve the legislature would be tantamount to
his tacit admission that he was wrong for orchestrating the political strife
against the duo.
According to the Constitution, the legislature can propose a vote of
no-confidence against the premier with the signatures of at least one-third of
lawmakers.
If the motion is approved by at least half of the legislators, the premier must
resign within 10 days and may request that the president dismiss the legislature
in return.
New legislative elections must be convened within 60 days after the dissolution
of the legislature.
The September political strife refers to the SID¡¦s allegedly illegal wiretapping
of Ker, its accusations that Wang had improperly lobbied for Ker in a breach of
trust case against him and the subsequent decision by the Central Evaluation and
Discipline Committee of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), of which Ma is
chairman, to revoke the speaker¡¦s party membership.
Critics and the opposition parties have cast doubts on the legitimacy and
motives of the division¡¦s wiretap operations, drawing parallels between the case
and the 1972 to 1974 Watergate scandal in the US.
Controversy over the case further intensified after Huang backtracked on his
previous statements at a legislative session on Wednesday that the division had
only tapped Ker¡¦s telephone and that he had met with Ma just once before he made
public the transcripts of wiretapped telephone conversations between Wang and
Ker to back the division¡¦s allegations on Sept. 6.
While fielding questions from DPP lawmakers, including Ker, Huang acknowledged
that the division had also wiretapped the telephone of Lin Shiow-tao (ªL¨qÀÜ), the
Taiwan High Prosecutors¡¦ Office prosecutor in charge of Ker¡¦s case, during its
investigation into Ker¡¦s alleged involvement in a corruption case, and that he
had discussed the matter with Ma twice in person, on Aug. 31 and on Sept. 1.
Hsu said Huang should be held ¡§politically accountable¡¨ for the division¡¦s
wiretapping operations and be subjected to severe punishment.
Former premier Frank Hsieh (Áªø§Ê) of the DPP, who also attended the Huashan
meeting, said Huang¡¦s reporting of the matter directly to Ma constituted a
serious violation of the Constitution and that the division should be abolished
immediately as it had done more harm than good.
DPP spokesman Lin Chun-hsien (ªL«T¾Ë) said the party was mulling actions against Ma
over his overstepping of the constitutional boundaries of presidential
authority, including seeking a constitutional interpretation, recalling the
president and initiating a no-confidence vote against the premier.
In response, KMT spokesman Yin Wei (®ïÞ³) said that if Ker was so confident of his
innocence, he should step out of the legislature¡¦s protection and subject
himself to public scrutiny.
Yin also rejected Ker¡¦s allegations that it was KMT¡¦s Culture and Communication
Committee director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (¿½¦°§Â) who arranged the meetings between Ma and
Huang.
¡§Ker is wrong for thinking that he could shift the focus from himself by making
groundless accusations against innocent people, because it only shows that he is
trying to avoid talking about the case itself and is afraid of coming under
public scrutiny,¡¨ Yin said.
|
