In recent years, South Korea's economic success has exceeded Taiwan's, a fact that has encouraged lawmakers to rail at Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) in the legislature. Su has said that he will work harder on the economy, but legislators must take their share of responsibility because their obstructionism is the main reason behind the nation's economic and political troubles.
A case in point: The nomination of Hsieh Wen-ding (
To increase the independence of the prosecutorial system, the state public prosecutor-general is nominated by the president and approved by the legislature. But all that has resulted is interference from somewhere else on the hierarchy.
The opposition parties endorsed Hsieh's experience, ability and integrity. During his review, Hsieh said he would not tolerate political interference and that he would abide by the law, but his answers to questions on certain cases did not please the opposition. He did not, for example, accept the opposition's list of recommendations for a state public prosecutor-general's special investigation task force, changes which the government has rejected.
The opposition parties are seeking a state public prosecutor-general who will not tolerate political interference -- unless it is their own. It is clear that Hsieh has been turned down because he would not accept this.
Few will be surprised by the pan-blue camp's attitude, because over the past six years it has blocked government policy regardless of merit. It criticizes the government for implementing second-rate or inscrutable policy, but then cripples the operation of oversight mechanisms. One example of this is the Control Yuan, whos job it is to monitor policy implementation and proper conduct, but which has been frozen for more than a year because of opposition dissatisfaction with the president's nominees. As a result, cases in which civil servants have been accused of breaking the law, disciplinary measures for bad performance and public complaints are not being processed.
All of this, and Ma Ying-jeou's (
This brazen behavior is the result of an opposition that is prepared to damage not only the government but also the organs of state to whatever extent deemed necessary to win office. It's a circular game of the utmost cynicism: Block the appointment of senior investigators, then complain the government isn't doing any investigating.
Until the Control Yuan and the judicial system are permitted by Ma and his team to function properly so that corruption and other irregularities can be investigated, we can only expect more of the same -- all the way until the next presidential election.
The opposition's refusal to approve the nomination for state public prosecutor-general is only the latest -- but by no means the last -- example of an opposition that claims to stand for the interests of this country but actually could not express themselves in a more contemptuous fashion.
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