The open letters by former Tuntex Group president Chen Yu-hao (
Debate over the letters, in which the fugitive businessman alleged that President Chen Shui-bian (
From the legal perspective, it is imperative to point out that making and accepting political donations, or more precisely campaign donations, are not illegal per se. Nor should such donations be automatically regarded as bribery. Otherwise, in a vibrant democracy such as this, no one could possibly afford to run in an election unless he or she happened to have a rich father, like Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
In most other democracies, laws exist to regulate the timing, purpose, size and recipients of donations, as well as ensuring transparency in the process as a whole. Politicians who accept donations within this framework then face public scrutiny.
Taiwan has no political donations law. A political donations bill remains stalled in the Legislative Yuan after years of bickering between the government and the opposition. It should be noted that throughout this entire period the KMT, and later the pan-blue camp generally, have never ceased to enjoy an absolute legislative majority. In this regard, the KMT must shoulder much of the blame for the absence of regulations.
Only the Election and Recall Law (選舉罷免法) imposes rules on campaign donations. Under this law, no enterprise may make more than NT$3 million in campaign donations to any political party. As for presidential and vice presidential candidates, campaign donations from a business enterprise may not exceed NT$300,000. These rules have no teeth, however, since neither fines nor sanctions are imposed upon those who break them.
With this in mind, both the NT$10 million donation made by Chen Yu-hao to Chen Shui-bian's presidential campaign headquarters in 2000 and his simultaneous NT$100 million donation to the KMT, while exceeding the limits imposed by the law, do not otherwise invoke problems from a legal point of view.
But while the KMT was quick to condemn the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for accepting the donations, one cannot help wonder why the fact that the KMT itself accepted NT$100 million has not been seen to constitute an even stronger "friendship" with Chen Yu-hao.
The tycoon was probably much more generous to Lien in 2000 because, for one, Lien was thought to be much more likely to win the presidential race -- more likely at least than Chen Shui-bian, who had been trailing in third place in opinion polls at the time -- and two, as a payback for "past favors" handed out during the KMT's rule. Either way, it is foolish of the KMT to go all-out blasting Chen Shui-bian over the donations.
In any event, with the Legislative Yuan back in session, the DPP has called on the pan-blue camp to allow the passage of a political donation law. It is hoped that voters can look carefully and see which party is stalling and dragging its feet.
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