In a recent social gathering, I ran into some of my friends who work in the judiciary and government agencies. They all told me sarcastically that it is good to see the nation is doing without Control Yuan members. Some of the impeached or convicted judges have been acquitted of their crimes during this period of time when we do not have any Control Yuan members at all, they said, adding that government officials do not fear being investigated now, even though they have done something wrong.
I feel discouraged at such remarks. The operation of the Control Yuan came to a standstill nearly seven month ago, because the nominations for new Control Yuan members have yet to be approved by the Legislative Yuan.
According to the Constitution, the Control Yuan is responsible for supervising the government and impeaching official. The members of a supervisory committee should be able to wield their power independently.
There are 120 nations that have set up supervisory committees of some sort. In the name of the Control Yuan of the Republic of China, Taiwan joined the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) many years ago.
Although China's Ministry of Supervision functions under the State Council, it has been excluded from the IOI, as it cannot exercise its power independently and has failed to handle the petitions of the general public, which is not compliant with the objective of the IOI.
As a result of the blue-green division, the Control Yuan is currently unable to function normally and deal with the grievances of the people.
The impact of a halt to the operation of the Control Yuan is as follows:
First, there will be no Control Yuan members on duty to meet with the people visiting the institution with their their petitions. Between Feb. 1 and now, the Control Yuan has received over 8,700 petitions. However, as there are no Control Yuan members attending to these petitioners or scrutinizing and rectifying their appeals, the rights of these people have been infringed.
Second, investigations of major administrative misconduct are unable to get off the ground: Between February and now, the number of government misconduct cases that should be reviewed has exceeded 300.
Third, up to now, there has been more than a dozen cases relating to financial misconduct that the Ministry of Audit has delivered to the Control Yuan for investigation. It would be worrying if there were no efforts made to review these cases.
Fourth, how to impose penalties on those government officials who have dishonestly declared their properties remains unresolved.
Fifth, although the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Public Functionaries is in charge of impeaching the government officials while the administrative organizations deal with rectification cases, it is impossible to pursue the follow-ups without the Control Yuan.
Sixth, since no Control Yuan members are able to attend the meetings of the IOI, Taiwan is deprived of the chance to engage in international exchanges, reducing its exposure to the international community.
Seventh, as of January, the Control Yuan members are responsible for supervising a dozen national examinations. As a result of the lack of Control Yuan members, whether or not the exams can remain fair will be important to the interests of numerous examinees.
The approval of the Control Yuan nominations has been stalled as a result of blue-green strife. The consequence will be so far-reaching that those in power should seriously consider the issue carefully.
Lee Shen-yi is former member of the Control Yuan
TRANSLATED BY DANIEL CHENG
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