If opposition lawmakers leaving the legislature at midnight on Wednesday had one thing thing in common, it was condemnation for Chou Po-lun (周伯倫).
Chou, convener of the DPP legislative caucus for the just-concluded legislative session, has never failed to grasp media attention.
Since his political career began, he has developed a reputation as a provocative man with a razor tongue -- and his stinging comments have come in particularly handy during the past four months.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
"He is a figure who has been a very big headache for the opposition parties, and some DPP members also feel uneasy with his unpredictability. But he is undoubtedly a resourceful politician," observed Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠), who worked closely with Chou as deputy convener of the DPP caucus.
During the session, which began in February and ended last Wednesday, hardly a single week passed without controversy.
In the very first round of negotiation with opposition lawmakers in February, Chou attempted to squeeze a sensitive referendum law onto the legislature's list of priority legislation.
In March, Chou publicly criticized opposition lawmakers for deliberately stalling over 100 legislative bills submitted by the Executive Yuan, a move which prompted Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to personally defend the actions of the legislature in a special address to the media.
scorched earth
In an even more extreme action taken against independent legislator Liao Hsueh-kuang's (廖學廣) continual efforts to veto the Executive Yuan's bills in April, Chou resorted to a scorched earth policy and killed all other bills put forth by opposition lawmakers in retaliation, vowing to let them "all die together."
The tactic may have been successful in drawing public attention to problems in the Legislative Yuan and exert pressure on the opposition parties, but it also invited public criticism that the DPP was failing in its role to act responsibility as the ruling party.
Instead of conducting negotiating effectively with the opposition lawmakers, Chou himself behaved more like an opposition politician. With the next legislative election coming in just a few months, he has tried to discredit the opposition whenever he had the chance.
Immediately after the Executive Yuan's supplementary budget was slashed by NT$18.4 billion -- most of which constituted subsidy funding for local governments -- he publicly called on residents of the affected localities to get even with the opposition parties, saying that construction projects would be hampered as a result.
This of course provoked the opposition lawmakers, but Chou appeared unconcerned.
"As the leader of the ruling party caucus, it was most important for Chou to win the trust of the opposition caucuses.
"But he didn't care to do so," said Levi Ying (營志宏), the convener of the New Party caucus.
"He was, however, very successful in garnering publicity for the DPP, even if the publicity was based on a distortion of facts," Ying added.
Chou's personality as an opposition activist still remains, despite the DPP's rise to power.
Chou started to take an active part in the opposition movement in 1982 when he worked as an assistant to Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who was a Taipei City councilor at the time.
In 1985, Chou joined the Taipei City Council election under the auspice of being Chen's "apprentice" and was elected.
Though he styled himself as a fighter against "the privileged class," Chou, ironically, was convicted of corruption by the Taipei District Court in 1989 for receiving NT$12 million in bribes.
The case has dragged on for over 10 years and has been appealed to the Supreme Court a number of times, but still remains unresolved today.
His record, however, did not hamper his bid to run for legislator in 1992. Subsequently he was returned to office in 1995 and 1998.
In all three of his terms as legislator, he has been able to assume the leadership of the DPP legislative caucus, which is reshuffled every session.
Though many opposition lawmakers would gnash their teeth with anger at the thought of their past dealings with Chou, Chou seems to relish what he has been doing.
"Most people would like to become the good cop. But there must be someone who plays the role of bad cop," Chou said.
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
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source