Tue, Jun 20, 2006 page8

• Editorial: Pan-blue recall bid a sick joke

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  It's about time that the pan-blue camp realized what damage it is doing to Taiwan and put an end to its ridiculous efforts to recall the president.

  Its attempts to spark a Philippines-style "people power" movement and oust the president have so far failed miserably, with only diehard pan-blue fans answering the call to take to the streets.

  Maybe this has something to do with the fact that the Taiwanese electorate was not surprised to find out that some politicians, their aides and relatives may have been abusing their positions to fill their own pockets. If they were concerned about such things then why would the people of Taitung and Taichung counties regularly elect people like Wu Chun-li (吳俊立) or Yen Ching-piao (顏清標)?

  Or could it be the fact that People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) is the engine behind the calls to topple the president? The sources of Soong's wealth are questionable to say the least. The fact that this political has-been has the gall to publicly denounce corruption is beyond belief. If it were not for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) dropping the charges over the Chung Hsing Bills lawsuit, Soong may have found himself in the same situation as the president's son-in-law. But we must credit most Taiwanese with seeing through Soong's ruse.

  It is patently obvious to anyone with an iota of political knowledge that the real reason for Soong's leading role is because he is trying to rescue his flagging career and bolster his popularity for a crack at the Taipei mayorship. Since Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took the helm of the KMT last year, Soong's political capital has never been so low.

  Of course the president's inner circle and his family should be punished if they are found guilty of corruption. But they should not be subject to "trial by TVBS" or any other kind of PFP or KMT-led kangaroo court. The nation's investigators should be allowed the time and space they need to get on with their job.

  We have already seen what a one-sided legislative probe can produce with the 319 shooting special truth investigation committee: a lot of hot air, speculation and absolutely no concrete proof.

  But the saddest thing about this whole recall affair is that it has cruelly exposed Ma's weak position. Many fence-sitting Taiwanese must have had high hopes for Ma and the KMT after he swept to the chairmanship last year on promises of clean politics and party reform.

  And many of them may have believed that he had miraculously transformed the KMT from a super-rich party of vote-buyers and career carpetbaggers into an ultra-clean party of paupers.

  When plans for a recall bid first appeared, Ma was the voice of reason, in contrast to other pan-blue figures screaming for the head of Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). However, it didn't take long for him to change his tune in the face of criticism from his own camp.

  By letting himself be press-ganged into supporting the recall bid, Ma has shown that the same deep-blue elements that cannot stand to see Taiwan ruled by a pro-localization regime still hold the KMT's reins of power. It has become increasingly clear that they will stop at nothing in their bid to oust the president, even if it means creating more division in Taiwan's already deeply-split society.

  The high threshold required to recall the president means that their bid has been doomed from the start, and the pan-blue camp is well aware of this. They have only further demonstrated to the general public what a bitter, hateful bunch they really are.
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