PFP lawmakers track slush fund

In their effort to ferret out a secret National Security Bureau (NSB) account, People First Party (PFP) lawmakers yesterday sought the support of KMT and New Party legislators in their bid to create an investigative panel to look into the matter.

Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), the PFP's legislative caucus convener, said he will officially put forward a motion in the Legislative Yuan next Tuesday, or as soon as the proposal has collected enough lawmakers' endorsements.

While the New Party is supportive of the proposal, the KMT is undecided on the matter.

KMT legislative caucus whip Lee Cheng-chong (李正宗) said the caucus needs to gather more information regarding the account and discuss the issue with party members before making a decision on whether it will join the effort.

Over the past few days PFP lawmakers have made allegations that during former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) administration, the NSB amassed a slush fund by stashing surpluses from its annual budget.

According to the legislators, this was done in order to bypass the legislature's constitutionally mandated responsibility to oversee the bureau.

They estimate that at least NT$4 billion, including interest, exists in the account. They also claim some NT$1 billion has been spent for "clandestine purposes" over the years.

In addition to making overseas political donations and financing surveillance operations of Lee's political rivals, a certain amount of the money was used to finance the operations of political groups affiliated with the former president, according to the party's lawmakers.

Though it has confirmed the existence of the money, the NSB has declined to give the PFP lawmakers details about the account or how the money has been spent because of national-security concerns.

PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday said his party will continue to track the case to safeguard the country's national interests.

Soong said the key issue here is that the NSB has subverted the legislature's right to oversee the bureau's activities, under the pretense of national security.

Chou, meanwhile, noted that the NSB in fact already enjoys confidentiality vis-a-vis the nation's intelligence services, and that the sum of money in question should be returned to the nation's all-but-depleted coffers instead of being spent like some kind of "private stash."

Chou said the unlawful manner in which the money has been collected and spent is as bad as the embezzlement by the NSB's former chief cashier, Colonel Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍).

Liu allegedly misappropriated NT$90 million and fled Taiwan in September 2000.

With this background in mind, it is completely justifiable for the legislature to seek an investigation of the account and the NSB, Chou added.