Lo's protest paralyzes legislature

KMT Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) staged a silent boycott on the legislative floor yesterday to protest what he called the political persecution of his father, lawmaker Lo Fu-chu (羅福助), by judicial officials.

The younger Lo, wearing a mask, occupied the podium the entire morning and part of the afternoon, with Cabinet officials, anxious to answer questions over next year's spending, acting as unconsenting spectators.

"Unless the rights of lawmakers are properly protected, I will not leave the podium," said Lo Ming-tsai before launching the boycott.

On Monday, Taipei prosecutors asked the city's law enforcement authorities to tag the elder Lo as a hoodlum under the Anti-Hoodlum Law -- a measure which allows investigators additional leeway to go after gangsters.

Lo Fu-chu, who was banned in April from the legislature for punching a female lawmaker during a committee meeting, is facing assault charges filed by his colleagues.

Defending his father, the younger Lo compared the judiciary move to a "White Terror" practice of the martial-law era.

He said that the suggested labeling of his father as a hoodlum violated on the rights of lawmakers which are guaranteed by the Constitution.

"All the physical conflicts at issue took place inside the legislature," the younger Lo told a news conference after ending the filibuster at 3:30pm. "No members would uninhibitedly execute their duty if deprived of the privilege from prosecution."

The KMT legislator added that he was to ask the Council of Grand Justices to decide on the constitutionality of the prosecutors' action.

To that end, he is seeking support from his colleagues, and more than 30 lawmakers have signed his petition, his assistant Chu Chen-chung (朱誠中) said.

But DPP lawmakers Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) and Yu Jane-dao (余正道) maintained that the immunity does not extend to physical violence and urged the authority to promptly prosecute the elder Lo.

The pair said that it served Lo Fu-chu right to be branded a hoodlum and challenged the independent lawmaker to come forward and face the consequences of his "rogue behavior." "The authorities concerned must speed up their pace, as the suspension is soon to expire," Tsai said.

The elder Lo could not be reached by the press. His aides said that he was too upset to make public appearances. Last week he accused the ruling DPP of mounting a campaign against him to divert public attention away from the slumping economy.

His son echoed the complaint and said metaphorically "his father's night is brighter than the day of many politicians." He added he had considered relinquishing his berth as a convener of the Finance Committee to underscore the absurdity of the whole controversy.

He said he decided against quitting because he did not want to set a bad example for society. Scores of grade-school students were in the legislature for a tour when he mounted the boycott.