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Legislature approves top prosecutor

Deciding factors * KMT threatened party members not to vote, although several had expressed support for Chen Tsung-ming. * People First Party (PFP) caucus threw its support behind Chen, although the party denied this was related to his refusal to summon former PFP chairman James Soong over his role in the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election.

The president's nominee for the position of state public prosecutor-general received the endorsement of a majority of lawmakers yesterday, making Chen Tsung-ming (陳聰明) the first to take up the post with the approval of the legislature.

The legislature voted on the appointment in accordance with the Organic Law of Court Organization (法院組織法), which was amended last January to implement legislative approval of the president's nomination.

After the vote, Chen expressed his appreciation for the legislature's support and said that he would make a selection of the best prosecutors to form a "special investigation team."

The law empowers the nation's top prosecutor to form and lead a special investigation team to investigate allegations of wrongdoing involving high-ranking government officials.

"I will sample opinions from various circles to choose prosecutors with the best professional capabilities, sympathy for the weak and an ability to resist pressure," Chen said.

Currently, 219 of the legislature's 225 seats are filled. A total of 215 legislators voted in yesterday's poll.

Of these, 126 voted in favor of Chen's appointment, while two voted against it and 87 cast blank votes, which is effectively the same as casting a "no" vote.

Chen won the legislature's approval by a margin of eight votes.

According to the law, an appointment must be approved by half of the legislators present at a session, with at least one-third of lawmakers in the legislature in attendance for the vote.

The People First Party (PFP) reached a decision at a caucus meeting before the voting started that its 22 legislators should vote in favor of approving Chen. This turned out to be the key to his nomination, even though some PFP lawmakers voiced opposition to the decision.

As the ballots were secret, it remains unclear if all lawmakers cast their ballots in accordance with the instructions issued by their parties.

It was generally assumed that 84 lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), 12 from the Taiwan Solidarity Union, seven from the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union, 21 from the PFP and Independent Legislator Li Ao (李敖) voted for Chen.

Many lawmakers displayed their ballots on the legislative floor, although former DPP legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) refused to display his, while PFP Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) showed his invalid ballot.

Chang later said that he displayed his ballot to counter speculation that the PFP supported the nominee in repayment for his rejection of an order from the Ministry of Justice to summon former PFP chairman James Soong over his role in the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election.

DPP Legislator Chen Chin-de (陳金德) had said earlier that he would vote against the nominee, but after yesterday's vote denied that he had done that.

"I didn't think he was competent to be the nation's top prosecutor. He seemed like a yes-man rather than a man of character," Chen Chin-de said.

Meanwhile, 86 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers were assumed to have cast invalid ballots. The KMT had threatened its lawmakers with punishment to keep them from supporting Chen Tsung-ming.

The KMT lawmakers put their ballots into the ballot box without entering the voting booth, while three lawmakers had applied for a leave of absence in advance.

KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順), however, entered a voting booth, and later said she had voted against the nominee.

"I didn't think it was right that lawmakers were being asked to follow the party's voting instructions," she said.

Li told reporters that he had voted for Chen Tsung-ming, even though he had indicted his former wife Hu Yin-meng (胡因夢) on charges of forgery.

The KMT yesterday expressed regret over the approval of the president's nominee and added that it would continue to demand a high moral standard of the judicial system.

"The KMT did not expect such an outcome, but as the nation's biggest opposition party we took great pains to screen the nominees," KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said in a written statement.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) expressed gratitude to the legislature for approving his nominee.

Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih and Ko Shu-ling

also see story:
Editorial: Without a shill, whither the KMT?

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