A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday suggested amending the party's anti-corruption regulations that would prevent Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"I will propose a special clause to exclude the `black gold clause' regulation's influence on Ma, should the worst case scenario occur and he is indicted," KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (
The KMT's "black gold exclusion clause," which was amended under Ma's chairmanship in the hope of improving the party's image and integrity, states that any member may be suspended if they are indicted.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Tsai said yesterday that the investigation into Ma's handling of his allowance was "wrong," as the problems had arisen out of a "flawed system" rather than "corruption."
"There has been a strong reaction [to the accusations against Ma], with many people saying they couldn't bear seeing Ma being treated so unjustly," Tsai said.
Tsai said he didn't discuss the idea with Ma in advance.
"Even though Ma is against this, I still insist that a special clause should be enacted," he said.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"If we want to do this, should the special clause be ex post-facto? For example, would it apply to Cheng Yung-chin (
Cheng, the Hsinchu County commissioner, was indicted by Hsinchu District Prosecutor's Office on Aug. 9 on suspicion of accepting bribes from construction companies. He was then suspended by the KMT.
Ma and the party's highest decision-making committee yesterday disapproved of Tsai's idea, agreeing that the move would place Ma in an difficult position.
"Chairman Ma was totally against changing the party's regulations for his benefit alone," KMT Spokesman Huang Yu-cheng (黃玉振) said after the party's weekly Central Standing Committee yesterday.
Huang said that all of the committee's members opposed Tsai's proposal to amend the regulations, while stating their belief in Ma's innocence.
Although Ma was said to have disagreed with the proposal, he did not strongly oppose the idea earlier in the morning, saying that he would allow the party to decide whether or not the regulations should be changed.
"These are our party's regulations. It should be left for the party to decide [whether or not to amend the regulations]," Ma told the reporters while attending a municipal event.
Asked to comment on objections to the proposal expressed by several party legislators, Ma said all kinds of opinions would be included in the party's discussion.
During yesterday's meeting, Ma continued to stress his innocence to party members and urged the KMT to unite in what is a difficult time.
"It would be unjust if my handling of the mayoral special allowance fund was viewed as corruption. It would also be an insult to the 6,500 local chiefs around the country," Ma said at the meeting.
Arguing that amending the clause was "redundant," KMT Legislator Shuai Hua-ming (
"Does the KMT have another presidential candidate? Is there a presidential candidate with more integrity than Chairman Ma in Taiwan?" he asked at the KMT headquarters.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Shih-cheng (
DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said that if the KMT wanted to modify its regulations for Ma, it meant that they knew there was something wrong with his handling of his special allowance and that he may be indicted as a result.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS