During the transitional period between the outgoing and incoming governments, some pan-green camp politicians and other supporters of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) have requested that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) pardon Chen.
Despite their enthusiasm, they have failed to see the overall picture. Instead of focusing on the pursuit of justice, they have begged Ma to bestow mercy on Chen, focusing only on restoring his freedom.
To issue a pardon is a presidential right and it can be employed to resolve a legal deadlock. However, Ma is infatuated with playing traditional Chinese politics — a zero-sum game — and tries to eliminate his enemies without paying any attention to reconciliation.
Although Ma does not dare to harry Chen to his death, because that would make him a martyr, he plans to push Chen to the point where he suffers a nervous breakdown, aiming to force him to confess his crimes and beg for mercy.
When law enforcement under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government-run judiciary put handcuffs on Chen, it was not only a humiliation to Chen but also a threat to the Taiwan awareness. When he raised his cuffed hands in protest as he was being escorted into a police car, many people were outraged and expressed their sympathy and support. Chen later published a book — written while he was in prison — entitled Voices That Cannot Be Locked Up (關不住的聲音), in which he claimed his innocence and declared that he would pursue justice.
Requesting that Ma issue a pardon to Chen because it would aid reconciliation efforts is a waste of time. It just gives Ma and his gang one more chance to highlight the fact that several corruption cases involving Chen are still pending, and that the former president is unwilling to plead guilty. It has only served to humiliate Chen once again.
After Ma refused to grant Chen’s supporters their request, the pressure shifted onto president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). Chen’s supporters are likely to cite the example of former US president Gerald Ford, who pardoned his disgraced predecessor Richard Nixon, and demand that Tsai exercise her presidential power to pardon Chen after she takes office. However, unless Chen is willing to confess his crimes first, a decision by Tsai to issue a pardon would lack legitimacy. Issuing a pardon will not be a priority issue for her administration — it was not even listed as one of her presidential campaign policies.
When Ford took office in 1974 as a non-elected president, he tried to terminate various political disputes by granting Nixon a full pardon for any crimes he might have committed before an impeachment vote in the US Congress. As a result, Ford’s own approval ratings dropped sharply, and he and the US Republican Party suffered a major defeat in the 1976 US presidential election.
Since several corruption cases involving Chen are still pending and since, so far, he has not pled guilty, it would be inappropriate for Tsai to grant him a full and unconditional pardon. However, it is appropriate to demand that she fulfill her promise of pursuing justice and reforming the judiciary by establishing an impartial special committee charged with carrying out a comprehensive investigation into possible abuses of judicial power and unfair cases and then releases a report and recommendations proving the innocence of those unjustly convicted of crimes.
An unjust pardon might be able to satisfy Chen’s supporters who sympathize with the former president, but it would not be able to restore their sense of honor.
James Wang is a senior journalist.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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