Rifts began appearing in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday, as Vice President Annette Lu (
Kaohsiung prosecutors on Monday indicted 22 defendants, including former deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office Chen Che-nan (陳哲男) and former Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) vice chairman Chen Min-hsien (陳敏賢), for corruption and breach of trust for their alleged involvement in the scandal.
Hsieh denied that he was involved in any wrongdoing personally, and played down the seriousness of the scandal, saying there was "no evidence" of any malfeasance. However, he said would cooperate with prosecutors "whenever" needed.
"I personally do not like the way [prosecutors] handled this case. But I still respect the results," Hsieh said. "I can also guarantee that there was nothing wrong with the [Kaohsiung MRT] project during my term as mayor."
Meanwhile, Lu had a different view.
"I think the indictment is quite reasonable," Lu said, lauding her party's commitment to exposing mistakes its members have made.
Hsieh made his remarks in response to a verbal attack by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus, which yesterday asked prosecutors to summon the premier and search the Presidential Office in a bid to uncover the "mastermind" behind the KRTC scandal.
"We highly suspect that the `powerful individual' behind the scenes is not among [the 22 officials indicted on Monday]," said KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順). "As the Presidential Office has become a stock exchange for insider trading, and the five members of the review committee for Kaohsiung's MRT construction project are out on bail, I'm afraid the truth of the matter will be hard to uncover, unless prosecutors question the premier and conduct a search of the Presidential Office."
KMT Legislator Lee Ching-hua (
Lu's comments came during an exclusive interview with TTV yesterday. The vice president said that she and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had been discussing recent events regarding Chen Che-nan.
Lu also tried to distance herself from the former presidential adviser, saying she didn't know Chen Che-nan very well.
"When I sensed something, it was too late," she said, adding that the DPP needs "preservatives" to prevent corruption in the future.
But Hsieh was adamant that there was no truth behind the allegations of impropriety. He added that he could make a guarantee of innocence because "no evidence" had showed that there was a scandal involved with the Kaohsiung MRT project.
"Nobody and nothing can prove there was anything wrong with the NT$180 billion project, but prosecutors have still decided to indict the `suspects,'" the premier said. "I am not happy with this, but I will accept and respect it."
Hsieh said prosecutors began investigating improprieties in the project in 2001, when he was still Kaohsiung's mayor.
However, the investigation was closed, Hsieh said, because authorities did not uncover sufficient evidence.
"I even heard some criticism that prosecutors were bribed, too," Hsieh said. "As a result, I really hope evidence can be found as soon as possible, if such a scandal does exist."
Hsieh was not alone in shifting the blame to "politics."
DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) described the pan-blue camp's requests as "inappropriate," and criticized them for "encroaching" on judicial authority.
"We feel sorry to see pan-blue lawmakers trample on the judicial system and try to manipulate the independent body," he said.
Cabinet Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday urged the public not to be misled by politicians' remarks concerning the case.
"We often see that many politicians, just like ordinary people, praise the justice system if the verdict or indictment is in their favor, and curse it if it is not," Cho said. "When we are asking other people to respect the law, we have to start with ourselves, first."
Additional reporting by Chiu Yu-tzu and Mo Yan-chih
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