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DPP tells Jiang to
apologize and quit
TIME TO STOP? A former DPP lawmaker urged the
party to end its boycott of Jiang, saying it could spark a backlash as the
public is tired of the deadlock in the legislature
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter Staff reporter
Democratic Progressive Party
legislators Gao Jyh-peng, left, and Wu Ping-jui speak to reporters in Taipei
yesterday, urging Premier Jiang Yi-huah to apologize and step down over his
alleged role in a plan to remove Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng from office.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Premier Jiang Yi-huah (¦¿©y¾ì) should
apologize and step down over his role in a ¡§well-calculated political plot¡¨ to
remove Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (¤ýª÷¥) from his position, the Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said yesterday.
If Jiang did not apologize to the Legislative Yuan for his role in the political
fracas and the Special Investigation Division¡¦s wiretaps on the legislature¡¦s
main line, the DPP would continue to boycott Jiang¡¦s report to the legislature,
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (°ª§ÓÄP) told a press conference.
Gao, who is also the party¡¦s director-general, said Jiang¡¦s sixth attempt to
deliver a report to the legislature today is likely to fail because the DPP
would continue the boycott, which began on the first day of the current session
on Sept. 17.
The DPP has no interest in the Chinese Nationalist Party¡¦s (KMT) internal power
struggle, but it is determined to uphold constitutional integrity, Gao said.
Jiang¡¦s protestations of innocence in the ongoing political storm were
questioned by the DPP, which views him more as an accomplice than as an onlooker
or a third party.
Jiang was summoned by Ma on the night of Aug. 31 after Prosecutor-General Huang
Shih-ming (¶À¥@»Ê) briefed the president on Wang¡¦s alleged improper lobbying,
submitting transcripts obtained from the wiretaps on DPP caucus whip Ker
Chien-ming (¬_«Ø»Ê) while the investigation was ongoing, which meant that Ma, Jiang
and Huang could all have violated confidentiality, the DPP said.
Jiang¡¦s presence at a press conference hosted by Ma on Sept. 8, in which Ma
accused Wang of improper lobbying, as well as the premier¡¦s comments in an
interview the following day that Wang was ¡§no longer suitable¡¨ as a speaker were
all infringement of the constitutional mechanism and showed contempt of the
legislature, Gao said.
According to Huang¡¦s latest testimony in the legislature, he met with Jiang over
the Wang case on Sept. 4, four days before the presidential press conference.
¡§Yet Jiang pretended that he was unaware of the incident at the Sept. 8 press
conference and in media interviews. That told us that it was all planned out,¡¨
Gao said.
DPP Legislator Wu Ping-jui (§dªÃèû) added that Jiang also demanded then-minister of
justice Tseng Yung-fu (´¿«i¤Ò), who was also accused of being involved in the
improper lobbying case, to resign at consecutive meetings on Sept. 6, the same
day Huang made the accusation public in a press conference.
¡§It seems to me that Jiang has been playing an important role in the
well-planned plot,¡¨ Wu said.
¡§The DPP¡¦s position is clear ¡X we have to protect the Constitution. Infringement
of the separation of powers and illegal, political wiretapping should not be
tolerated. Jiang must go,¡¨ Wu said.
However, former DPP legislator Julian Kuo (³¢¥¿«G) called on the party caucus to
end the boycott, saying that more boycotts could spark a backlash against the
party because the public prefers legislative proceedings to stay out of the
political turmoil.
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