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NCC blasts Cabinet for `interference'

Armed with constitutional interpretations, administrative laws and bombastic rhetoric, the National Communications Commission (NCC) vowed yesterday to "seek justice" through the legal system regarding what officials said were "untruthful allegations" made by the Executive Yuan.

Specifically, the commission said in a statement it would ask the Appeals Review Committee of the Executive Yuan to rule on the Cabinet's decision to "suspend" NCC commissioners Wu Chung-chi (吳忠吉) and Liu Kung-chung (劉孔中).

Meanwhile, the commission added that it would appeal to the High Administrative Court, which has the authority to temporarily freeze the execution of the administrative order.

The NCC also said it would seek a constitutional interpretation on the alleged intervention of the Executive Yuan in the license renewal of the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC).

The announcement came after the Executive Yuan issued a ruling on Monday evening regarding 10 alleged misdeeds committed by commission members, saying Wu and Liu had violated the law by hiring family members as chauffeurs.

The Cabinet's statement also said that NCC members must quit any other jobs they held immediately, expressing dissatisfaction with the way the commission had handled fraudulent news footage broadcast by TVBS.

CITING THE LAW

NCC member Su Yeong Chin (蘇永欽) said the Standard Organic Law of Central Government Agencies (中央政府機關組織基準法) clearly states that organizations such as the NCC can operate independently and are not subject to any control or supervision by other government agencies unless otherwise stated by law.

He also cited Constitutional Interpretation No. 613, by which the Council of Grand Justices determined that the way in which NCC members were appointed was unconstitutional, but that the NCC itself was a constitutional institution.

That interpretation said that whatever rulings the commission had issued remained effective, and that any organizations placed under its administrative authority would remain in that status.

"I can understand that [the premier] might feel uneasy about the presence of an independent agency that is free from his rein," Su said. "But we have to say the word `independent' out loud, and must ask the Executive Yuan the legal basis for its disciplinary measures at this time."

Su said that since the commission arbitrated over controversies surrounding the telecommunications industry with trillions of dollars at stake and multiple interests involved, all commissioners have strictly adhered to the principle of self-discipline.

He referred to several alleged scandals involving members of the ruling party.

"Any investigation of us will not find a little cabin, or top-class oolong tea donated by any interest groups. Nor will they catch us hiring illegal construction contractors and determining to whom a television station should be given," Su said.

Both Liu and Wu protested their innocence during the press conference yesterday.

"I will fight until the end to redeem my honor," Liu said, adding that there would be a constitutional crisis if the issue was not satisfactorily resolved.

CABINET RESPONSE

Meanwhile, the Cabinet defended its actions.

Cabinet Vice Secretary-General Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) said that NCC members Wu and Liu were dismissed because they had illegally hired unqualified personnel to be their drivers.

By law, to qualify as a driver for government officials, a person must be at least 25 years old, possess a professional driver's license, undergo a detailed health check and, if male, must have finished military service, Chen said.

"For Wu, his son was under 25; he did not finish his military service and did not possess a professional driver's license," Chen said. "For Liu, his driver did not possess a qualified driver's license, either. And neither of [the drivers] underwent a detailed physical."

Wu and Liu attempted to create the perception that they had not hired their own family members through illegal actions, Chen said.

"Technically, Wu's son and Liu's brother-in-law do not belong to the NCC. They were actually hired by a limousine service company. The NCC then hired the company for its services, and assigned Wu's son and Liu's brother-in-law to the posts," she said. "This is 100 percent an attempt to violate the law while covering up the evidence."

KMT COMMENTS

Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday filed a lawsuit against the premier in Taipei District Prosecutors Office, charging him with abuse of power for suspending the two NCC members.

"Given that the NCC is an independent body established with the approval of the legislature rather than a government agency subordinate to the Executive Yuan, the premier has no authority to take disciplinary action against NCC members," said KMT legislative caucus whip Hsu Shao-ping (徐少萍).

"And the discipline was too severe," she said, noting that the two NCC members' alleged misconduct did not constitute a violation of the Criminal Law (刑法).

KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said that the punishment for the two NCC members was part of a DPP plot to "crush" the body.

"The DPP government took the opportunity to show its discontent with the NCC's recent handling of the TVBS case. It also wanted to coerce the NCC into revoking two BCC [Broadcasting Corp of China] controlled radio channels," Fai said.

The Executive Yuan has demanded the BCC hand over two FM channels to the government because anti-monopoly regulations say no privately owned radio broadcaster may have more than two FM channels with nationwide frequencies.

The NCC, however, reached an in-court settlement late last year with BCC without consulting the Cabinet, which overrode the government's decision in 2004 that the two BCC-controlled radio channels were owned illegally.

In related developments, an amendment introduced by the Cabinet, designed to change the NCC's set-up, was again blocked from being put onto the legislative agenda by the pan-blue dominated Procedure Committee yesterday.

The Grand Council of Justices ruled the set-up of the NCC unconstitutional last June, and requires that NCC members leave their posts by December next year, but the government has been unable to push an amendment forward that would amend the unconstitutional aspect of the NCC law.

When asked for comment on the Cabinet's move against the NCC, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun said the decision "lives up to the public's expectation."

"The NCC is not only an unconstitutional organization. Its chairman and members have also failed to carry out many of the responsibilities they should have shouldered. Because of that, their authority should be suspended," Yu said, citing the commission's light punishment for TVBS over creating a fraudulent news segment involving a gangster late last month as an example.

The commission fined TVBS and TVBS-N each NT$1 million (US$30,223) last week and mandated that the general manager of the station, Lee Tao (李濤) -- who now has resigned -- step down.

The punishment has drawn criticism from all sides.

At a separate press conference, DPP caucus whip Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) urged NCC Spokesman Howard Shyr (石世豪) to resign, saying Shyr had failed to fulfill his responsibility as an NCC member recommended by the DPP.

Meanwhile, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus also criticized the NCC member it nominated, Hsieh Chin-nan (謝進男). It urged him to step down because a Cabinet report last week alleged Hsieh held a concurrent post in a project at the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang, Shih Hsiu-chuan and Flora Wang
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