Editorial: Anti-Chen campaign strikes again

At a news conference yesterday as a show of moral support for Prosecutor Chang Hsi-huai (張熙懷), a prosecutor in the "state affairs fund" case against first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), the leaders of the campaign against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) accused the pan-greens of lacking respect for the nation's judicial system.

The news conference came as a sudden reminder that the campaign to depose Chen still exists after a period of inaction.

It was an effective reminder. It brought back the memory of how absurd and hypocritical the group driving the campaign is.

Chang, who has been under fire from DPP legislators over alleged pro-China sentiment, reportedly broke down on Tuesday night, shouting and yelling randomly in his office in front of colleagues.

The anti-Chen campaign, under the leadership of former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德), who lectures about respect for justice, law and order, is a tragicomedy.

The campaign leaders seem blissfully unaware that they have set a prime example of disrespect for the law. Shih has steered his red-clad supporters to ignore the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) numerous times. Protesters have assembled unlawfully, paralyzed traffic and infringed on the rights of other citizens.

In addition, Shih also pressured the Judicial Yuan by claiming he would lead demonstrators to surround its premises if it did not indict Chen.

A more pressing issue than the campaign's criticism of so-called "Green Terror" was the use of its funds, which have still not been accounted for.

When Shih initiated the campaign in August this year, he said his main motive was to fight corruption. Under the anti-corruption banner, Shih accused Chen of corruption and called for him to be ousted.

With that appeal, he started a fundraising campaign, urging the public to donate NT$100 each to show their support for an anti-corruption movement. A total of NT$111 million (US$3.36 million) in donations was received.

Strangely enough, this so-called anti-corruption campaign hasn't actively supported the recall of Keelung Mayor Hsu Tsai-li (許財利), who was found guilty of corruption in a government land procurement case.

The Keelung District Court on Sept. 19 sentenced Hsu to seven years in prison and stripped him of his civil rights for eight years after his sentence ends. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) subsequently expelled him from the party.

Shih said earlier this month that he would stay in isolation until Chen steps down.

If Shih wants to spend his time indoors, he'll be fine. After all, the 165m2 apartment where the anti-Chen campaign has camped out -- possibly paid for by some of those funds the group hasn't accounted for -- should be roomy enough.

But what about his anti-corruption pledge to his supporters? What about the money people donated believing that it would be used against corruption?

The last time the campaign publicized its financial records, it reported that a total of NT$62 million had been spent as of Oct. 11. Another NT$48.82 million remained in the campaign's account.

Two months have since passed without news on expenses and the current state of the account.

It is time for those who donated their NT$100 to end their blind faith in the anti-Chen campaign and ask what the funds have been used for.