Saying sorry is not enough, DPP lawmakers insist

DPP lawmakers yesterday proposed to penalize PFP Legislators Diane Lee (李慶安) and Yang Fu-mei (楊富美) for misuse of their immunity from prosecution when they made wrongful accusations against the acting Department of Health head Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲).

Lawmakers from the pan-green camp have turned out in force to defend Twu, saying both of the PFP lawmakers deserved to be chastised for launching accusations before getting any verification of the story.

The scandal began with Lee accusing Twu of forcibly kissing restaurant proprietor Cheng Ko-jung (鄭可榮) and licking his ear at a KTV parlor on Aug. 6. On Saturday Lee and Cheng apologized for accusing the wrong person.

After the story broke, Yang said a cleaning lady claimed to have witnessed Twu having sexual relations with female colleagues at the office, but provided no evidence.

When asked by the media later on, Yang back-peddled, saying the accusations were "based on hearsay."

DPP Legislator Chiu Yung-jen (邱永仁) said the way in which Yang spread rumors at the legislature has set a very badexample for the rest of society.

What makes the matter worse, he added, is that Yang is not remorseful for her irresponsible conduct, which has made the entire legislature suffer from the shame.

DPP Legislator Peter Lin (林進興) said that by initiating the motion, he would like to raise a warning: That is, he wants to warn lawmakers that they must not make reckless accusations and point fingers before solid evidence is found.

Lin said the proposal will be passed at the procedural committee today, and will be handed into the discipline committee for further review.

Despite of the apologies by Lee and Cheng, Twu has decided to file a lawsuit against the two accusers as well as media outlets that had failed to report impartially during the incident.

Disagreeing with part of the public opinions, which called upon Twu to show mercy on the two and withdraw the case, DPP Legislators Julian Kuo (郭正亮) and Duan Yi-kang (段宜康) advised Twu to go ahead with the suit.

They argued it would be helpful to society if Twu called off the case, only if he insisted the trial would teach people to realize the importance to discipline their freedom of speech.

TSU lawmakers yesterday reached an agreement to initiate the proposals to limit lawmakers' powers of immunity and to halve their salaries.

TSU legislators said the public is fed up with lawmakers abusing their freedom of speech.

That's why the party feels the urgency to reduce the number of legislators. The party also wants to cut legislators' paychecks in half to prevent more social resources from being wasted by lawmakers.