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Editorial: Lu must clear her name

Former president of the Judicial Yuan Lin Yang-kang (林洋港) once said "the queen's chastity cannot be questioned" to defend the credibility and authority of the judiciary. Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) may need to borrow Lin's words to defend her own credibility and honesty.

After the magazine The Journalist (新新聞) reported that Lu had spread rumors of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) involvement in an extra-marital affair akin to the Monica Lewinski scandal, Lu went on the offensive. She organized a large legal team to mediate and file a lawsuit against The Journalist. The editor in chief of the magazine, Yang Chao (楊照), however, on Thursday said that late in the night of Nov. 3 it was he who received a phone call from Lu, informing him of the president's alleged affair.

The Journalist has dealt a humiliating blow to Lu, pushing her into the deep end of a political crisis. Little more than a quarter of the respondents to a survey by TVBS believed Lu, while more than 40 percent believed The Journalist. Some DPP legislators are also saying that perhaps Lu should resign, so that the president and the DPP can escape further humiliation.

The scandal involves a lot more than whether Lu made up and spread the rumor as part of a plan to succeed the presidency should Chen be recalled. It is a matter of her loyalty to the president and the Constitution. At the moment, her version of events is so different from that of The Journalist, that it seems reasonable to conclude that someone here is lying. So the case has become a matter of the vice president's political credibility.

Looking on the bright side, although US President Bill Clinton was wrapped up in the Whitewater investigation and various sexual scandals throughout his presidency, his re-election and performance as president did not suffer. This is an example Lu could take comfort in and lessons from. Looking at the downside, former US president Richard Nixon had to step down in shame as a result of his dishonesty in the Watergate scandal. Lu must take caution in view of this precedent.

The battle between Lu and The Journalist is not only a courtroom drama but a fight for the public's trust as well as that of the president. Credibility and ability are the greatest assets of politicians. Lu has insisted on filing a suit to prove her innocence, resulting in further escalation of the controversy. However, because her statement appears flawed, the public doubts her honesty. It is likely that the president doubts her loyalty as well. This puts the vice president's political future in great jeopardy. Not only must she win the lawsuit, she must do so in such a way as to convince the public and Chen of her integrity. Clearing her name is going to be a tougher task, requiring a far greater burden of proof than merely showing The Journalist's case to be weak.

So far, the evidence that Lu has presented has been less than compelling. If she did make the call to spread the rumor, it would be better for her to resign now, to avoid damage to the president and the DPP. She hasn't, which might lead us to think that she is reserving her heavy weapons for the court case. Let us hope so. The collapse of Lu's vice presidency in shameful ignominy is something that Taiwan can ill afford.
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