The Taipei High Administrative Court yesterday ruled against action taken by the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee to freeze bank accounts belonging to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
The ruling came after the KMT last month applied to the court to lift the freeze, which the party said led to financial difficulties and forced it to borrow money to pay the salaries of nearly 800 party employees for September and last month.
The committee was set up by the Cabinet after the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例) cleared the legislature in July and took effect in August.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The committee in September froze a KMT bank account over the issuance of 10 checks worth a collective NT$520 million (US$16.52 million) immediately after the legislation — which prohibits political parties from disposing of assets presumed to have been obtained illegally — was promulgated.
Yesterday’s ruling said there were questions about the legality of the administrative injunction, as it lacked some of the legal requirements needed to freeze the KMT’s bank accounts, and therefore the committee’s action might have violated provisions in Article 9 of the act.
The committee may not impose the administrative injunction to freeze the KMT’s bank accounts, nor undertake other forms of punishment, before litigation on the case receives a final decision, the ruling said.
The KMT caucus yesterday called for the resignation of Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee Director Wellington Koo (顧立雄), saying the ruling is a slap in his face and he should be held accountable for violating the rule of law.
KMT caucus convener Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) said that the committee had, without following due legal process, “inferred” that the savings in the KMT’s accounts were ill-gotten assets and its actions meant the KMT was unable to pay its party workers.
“The just adjudication made by the court would give ‘Emperor Koo’ a lesson about the true meaning of law,” Sufin said, adding that he praised the court for its “bravery” and that Koo should step down to avoid further embarrassment.
KMT Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said that while the KMT has always questioned the constitutionality of the act, “the committee, however, does not even abide by the act that [the DPP caucus] passed, as the court invoked the act to rule against the committee’s administrative injunction of freezing the KMT’s accounts.”
Meanwhile, KMT Administration and Management Committee Director Chiu Da-chan (邱大展) said that as the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee is likely to appeal the court’s decision, the KMT’s accounts would remain frozen and the Supreme Administrative Court would likely be called upon to make a final ruling.
He said that the KMT is still in financial difficulty and might still have trouble paying party workers their salaries for this month.
The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee later yesterday said it would appeal the ruling.
The judges’ ruling was erroneous and their reasons paradoxical, Koo said at a news conference, adding that the judges must have misunderstood the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations.
The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee will be convening a session next week to discuss the “principle of clarity” that the court asked for, Koo said, adding that the committee was not ruling out handing out administrative punitive measures.
Having been a lawyer, Koo said he has learned to see difficulties at different stages, and that until the final ruling has been announced, it is too early to say whether the lawsuit has been won or lost.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu and CNA
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