Print

Mail

wiki links

EDITORIAL : Throwing and turning stones

The sight of a bunch of legislators accusing another legislator or public official of impropriety immediately brings to mind glass houses and stones, especially in the context of Taiwan’s transition from one-party state to adolescent democracy.

The latest accusations of this nature to bounce around the media landscape come from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and target Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), who has barely had a chance to catch his breath since taking over from his troubled predecessor, Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄).

With the US beef controversy still damaging the government, the DPP’s attack on a new front involves an incident before Wu became premier: a trip he made to Bali, Indonesia, last December with Nantou County officials that included one-time mobster Chiang Chin-liang (江欽良), whose lengthy criminal record, including convictions for murder, and long prison sentence remain formidable entries on his CV.

Wu was the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) secretary-general at the time, not premier, but this is reminder enough of the ongoing relationship between the KMT and ruthless local powerbrokers. Casual ties between politicians and gangsters — active, dormant or retired — are one of the least appealing, if ubiquitous, characteristics of Taiwanese politics, not to mention the direct influence of gangster legislators on central and regional governments.

The DPP is hoping to cripple Wu in the court of public opinion — a most powerful force, as former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has found to his detriment — because to date the accusations it has leveled seem to fall short of legal sanction.

Nonetheless, a word of caution is appropriate. If we begin to uncritically entertain accusations of guilt by association with the underworld, it would be most inconvenient for both the KMT and the DPP.

Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), the DPP caucus whip, paid his respects some time ago to a deceased gangster icon involved in the killing of dissident Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) biographer Henry Liu (江南) in the 1980s, while the DPP’s popular singer-turned-legislator Yu Tien (余天) was linked to underworld figures in his election campaign. Indeed, the list of distasteful links between public representatives and organized crime is long and inglorious.

If Wu’s only crime has been to join a group on county business with one manifestly bad egg, then that is not enough to call for his resignation. The next few days will determine whether the DPP has enough on Wu’s trip to Bali to force his removal, or whether, as is usually the case, smear is the primary weapon and distraction from other matters the goal.

As with the US beef debacle, the test for Wu is not what caused this fuss as much as how competently he handles the fallout.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t started well. Comparing his contact with the former gangster to DPP politicians visiting Chen in his detention center, Wu revealed a lack of sobriety and respect for the public. This issue isn’t just about playing tit-for-tat with the opposition; it’s about convincing ordinary voters that you take the perception of propriety seriously.

As for the time-dishonored practice of promising to resign if one’s accuser can “prove” his accusations, it would be much more comforting if the premier simply and firmly said the accusations are nonsense, warned of legal action and left it at that. Tired rhetorical flourishes that augur more Cabinet resignations are the last thing any responsible person wants to hear.

Either way, Wu has learned one more lesson, even if his party is unlikely to heed it: For politicians of certain authority, there are no unturnable stones.
This story has been viewed 816 times.