|
Ma’s nation is unlike
‘anywhere in the world’
By Lin Chia-ho 林佳和
According to reports in the media, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) parting
comments to the delegation leaving for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) forum was that observers think that the service trade
agreement was negotiated behind closed doors when over the past year, there have
been more than 100 meetings with 264 industry representatives from 46 different
service industries, whether behind closed doors or at small discussions.
He was also reported as saying that “when talks are ongoing, it is impossible to
announce [what is going on] because that would affect the end result. This is
the case anywhere in the world; no one will announce the contents of talks
before the talks are over; that is impossible.”
Ma’s “anywhere in the world” seems to differ from that of most other people.
During the preparations for signing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership between the US and the EU, European Commission trade officials have
had to submit regular reports to the Council of Europe and the European
Parliament, and they have to accept irregular supervision, inspection and
instructions.
The future draft agreement must also be reviewed, amended, and approved or
rejected by these institutions.
The same regulations apply on the US side.
Article 218 and paragraph 3 of article 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of
the EU clearly stipulates that, when it comes to talks and conclusions of
international agreements, including the opening of negotiations, ongoing
proceedings, the finalization, the signing of the draft, the signing of the
final agreement, temporary application, suspension and termination: “The
European Parliament shall be immediately and fully informed at all stages of the
procedure.”
In Germany, the federal Law on Cooperation Between the Federal Government and
the German Bundestag in Matters Concerning the EU stipulates that the German
government is obligated to immediately answer and submit a report on free-trade
agreement talks on the demand or wish of a member of the Bundestag.
The law also states that organizations with a right to obtaining information
should include citizen’s groups and regular citizens in order to promote
extensive public debate and concern.
Are the differences becoming clear yet?
Even if what Ma says were true and assuming that industry consultations are not
unilateral and lacking binding force, the government deliberately avoids
supervision by parliament and the public.
The lawyer C.V. Chen (陳長文) said that there is no need for negotiations and the
signing to be transparent; so long as the results are transparent, everything is
fine.
Yet the government was not even planning on accepting legislative oversight
after the agreement was signed.
Georges Clemenceau, French prime minister during the final year of World War I,
said that democracy is the art of self-control, and that if you do not control
yourself, someone else will.
There is a Bulgarian saying that it is better to go to hell with a smart person
than to go to heaven with an idiot.
The government is deliberately distorting democracy, self-righteously spreading
false information and constantly walking with idiots. However, the nation is
still not gaining entry into heaven.
The cross-strait service trade agreement is indeed a touchstone for Taiwanese
democracy.
Lin Chia-ho is an assistant professor at National Chengchi University’s
College of Law.
Translated by Perry Svensson
|
