The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) filed a lawsuit against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday, accusing the two of corruption for favoring Performance Workshop Theatre founder Stan Lai (賴聲川) in organizing the ROC Centenary celebration events.
DPP spokesperson Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) and Kang Yu-cheng (康裕成) filed the lawsuit at the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office in the afternoon, telling reporters that Ma and Wu had leaked secrets and favored Lai with public funds in their behind-the-scenes handling of a series of events organized by the ROC Centenary Foundation.
Of the 20 board members at the foundation, which operates a NT$3.2 billion (US$105.6 million) fund, eight currently hold positions in government, with Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) acting as honorary chairman and Presidential Office Secretary-General Wu Jin-lin (伍錦霖) as chairman.
The lawsuit and the controversy arising in recent weeks surrounded the Dreamers (夢想家) musical, which was produced by Lai and cost NT$215 million to stage for two nights.
The winning bid for the musical was not decided until December last year, Chuang said.
“However, former Council for Cultural Affairs minister Emile Sheng (盛治仁) had told top Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials, among them Ma and Wu, [that Lai would win the bid] during a meeting of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee on Oct. 13 last year,” Chuang said.
That showed Ma and Wu, who had previously said they did not know anything about the musical, had lied to the public, they said.
TV commentator Sisy Chen (陳文茜) said on a political talk show on Monday that Sheng, who stepped down on Friday, was only a “scapegoat” in the controversy because Ma, Wu and Siew made the final call about the musical, including the designation of Lai as the producer and Greater Taichung as the location of the stage performance.
Chuang said he hoped the court would subpoena Chen as a witness to disclose the details of her knowledge about the case.
ROC Centenary Foundation board members
(Current position in parentheses)
Honorary chairman:
Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) (Vice President)
Chairman:
Wu Jin-lin (伍錦霖) (Secretary-General, Presidential Office)
Vice chairpersons:
- Barry Lam (林百里) (Founder and chairman of Quanta Computer)
- Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) (Council for Cultural Affairs minister)
- Tsai Shih-ping (蔡詩萍) (Writer, commentator, spokesperson for Ma Ying-jeou’s 2008 presidential campaign)
Directors:
- Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) (President, National Chengchi University)
- Lu Shyue-ching (呂學錦) (Chairman and chief executive, Chunghwa Telecom)
- Wei Duan (韋伯韜) (Chairman, Hong Tai Life Insurance, and former chairman of Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp)
- Douglas Hsu (徐旭東) (Chairman, Far Eastern Group)
- Kao Lang (高朗) (Deputy Secretary-General, Presidential Office)
- Emile Sheng (盛治仁) (Former minister of Council for Cultural Affairs)
- Nelson Chang (張安平) (Chairman, Chia Hsin Cement Corp)
- Chen Chih-yuan (陳致遠) (Chairman, Eyon Holding Group)
- Huang Pi-tuan (黃碧端) (Artistic director, National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center)
- Yang Du (楊渡) (Secretary-General, General Association of Chinese Culture; former director of the KMT’s Culture and Communication Committee)
- Tsai Hong-tu (蔡宏圖) (Chairman, Cathay Financial Holdings)
- Daniel M. Tsai (蔡明忠) (Chairman, Fubon Financial Holdings)
- Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) (Deputy campaign manager, Ma’s re-election campaign office)
- David J.C. Chung (鍾榮吉) (Chairman, Taiwan Fertilizer Co)
- Yen Kai-tai (嚴凱泰) (Chief executive, Yulon Group)
- Stanley Yen (嚴長壽) (Chairman, The Landis Taipei Hotel)
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