Laws needed to prevent future scandals: analysts

Analysts and politicians yesterday urged a quick end to the politicking behind the financial scandal of independent presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜), arguing that the government should concentrate on drawing up new laws that would properly regulate political donations and the conduct of political parties.

This is the only way, they said, to effectively limit and monitor candidates' campaign funds and prevent such scandals from taking place again.

"Soong's scandal should not be confined to the political realm as a battle between presidential candidates," said Yu Ying-fu (尤英夫), a Taipei lawyer. "Voters should demand that politicians institute measures or create systems to deal with these problems. The best way to do this would be to expand and extend the so-called `Sunshine Law.'"

At present in Taiwan, only government officials are required to publicly declare their personal assets, not candidates for election.

Legislators also stressed that current laws did little to deter officials, candidates or political parties from accepting illegal donations.

"The KMT owns a majority of the seats in the Legislative Yuan, and therefore it should strive to pass new laws as soon as possible -- especially since its presidential candidate, Lien Chan (連戰), has vowed to lead such action," said New Nation Alliance lawmaker Hsu Tien-tsai (許添財).

New Party legislator Lai Shih-pao (賴世葆) pointed out that in the current dispute, the central government has been far from impartial in investigating Soong's financial affairs.

"Officials from the finance ministry leaked information to the press which should have been private and confidential, which proves the scandal is in fact rooted in a political struggle," Lai said. "These officials have thereby violated the Taxes and Levies Act and have become hired thugs for a partisan cause."

Former DPP presidential candidate and long-time pro-independence activist Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), however, said that the allegations against Soong, and the case that has been built around them, are a legal matter and should be solved through legal procedures.

"In democratic countries, any official or candidate allegedly involved in corruption or embezzlement, is investigated by the judiciary," Peng said.

Soong has claimed that the KMT is trying to "confiscate his family members' property."

Political analysts have pointed out the obvious nature of the scandal, which is a life-and-death struggle for control of the KMT -- and the central government. By observing the scandal's development, there is much insight to be gained into the dark side of the current administration.

"This scandal could decide whether the KMT stays in power. Therefore, it is a political fight, in essence," said Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), editor-in-chief of Contemporary magazine.

Before the scandal was brought to public attention, Soong had maintained a comfortable lead over his rivals in public opinion polls. Lien had trailed by as much as 10 percentage points.

But Chin said the political in-fighting, in the end, would not really serve Lien all that well, as it would expose just how rampant illegal and unethical activities were within the party.

Yu and Chin both said voters should pressure their representatives in the legislature to pass laws that would improve the transparency of financial dealings among politicians and parties.