Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Wang said the case should not become a tool to divert the public's attention away from the government's deficiency in handling other internal affairs, warning that unsubstantiated actions may worsen interaction between the administrative and legislative branches.
"If there are illegalities, the administrative branch of course can deal with them according to the law. If there aren't, [the authorities concerned] should stop creating an atmosphere of terror to attack the Legislative Yuan," Wang said.
Though the three fixed-line companies were formally registered in June, subscription rights to their stocks have been sold and resold for several months.
The Legislative Yuan reportedly has become a "wholesale market" of such stock warrants, with a number of legislators allegedly buying shares from the fixed-line companies and reselling them for huge profits.
Some consortiums reportedly gave legislators options to buy their shares in exchange for their support in granting them licenses.
While some reports said about a dozen legislators were allegedly involved, DPP legislator Chien Hsi-chieh said 214 out of 221 legislators were involved.
Last Friday, Justice Minister Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) confirmed he had heard such reports and vowed to bring the involved parties to justice as long as there was concrete evidence of wrongdoing.
In his monthly press conference yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian (
"We must be careful as to whether there are any criminal liabilities or other irregularities. The identification of criminal liabilities and the collecting of evidence are under way," Chen said.
Chen Ding-nan, at a separate press conference yesterday, said the Securities Exchange Law (
The New Party, meanwhile, said they threw full support behind justice authorities' probe into the case and guaranteed that none of its nine legislators were connected to the trading.
Lai Shyh-bao (
The New Party demanded that justice authorities finish their investigation within a month and make public the names of lawmakers involved in the trading to show the government's resolve in cracking down on money politics.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
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