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Conference stresses need for clean government

Vice Premier Tsai Ing-wen, who is also the deputy chair of the Conference on Sustaining Taiwan's Economic Development, clenches her fists while talking to other delegates during a break on the second day of the conference yesterday. PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES

Establishing a clean government and reforming the legislature are critical to enhancing administrative efficiency, participants at the Conference on Sustaining Taiwan's Economic Development said.

However, the proposed legislative reform was not included in the list of agreements reached at the Session on Enhancing Government Competitiveness as it was vetoed by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).

The session was attended by a total of 198 academics, government and party officials, business groups and trade unions.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Huang Teh-fu (黃德福) initiated the proposal for a legislative reform. The "current sluggish legislative process" is the most serious obstacle to government action, he said.

"The legislature is now like a market. Everybody is negotiating for the best price and deal, but nothing is really going on," Huang said. "Since we are moving toward having half of the legislative seats eliminated, I think we should try to make the legislature a more efficient one as well."

"The legislature is now like a market. Everybody is negotiating for the best price and deal, but nothing is really going on."

Huang Teh-fu, Chinese Nationalist Party legislator

Huang's proposal was echoed by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) at the session.

However, Wang, who chaired the session's group discussions yesterday afternoon, said that any reform or reshuffle of the legislature had to be done in accordance with agreements and negotiations among different political parties.

Reforming the legislature would also involve many laws and regulations, which also require a lot of negotiations between different government bodies, he said.

"I think Legislator Huang's proposal is quite valuable, so I would suggest that we keep it as a reference if not an official proposal," Wang said.

Wang's recommendation was endorsed by other participants, who agreed to have Huang's proposal listed under "other opinions," which meant it would serve as advice for the government. Agreements reached at the conference were listed under "consensus," which meant they were to be implemented by the government.

National Policy Foundation convener Steve Hsieh (薛香川) said that government officials should maintain clean politics as it was the best solution to increasing administrative efficiency.

"It is better than any kind of law," he said.

Duan Wei (韋伯韜), a professor at Tamkang University's banking and finance department, said that eradicating corruption could boost economic growth.

"Studies conducted by academic researchers show that less corruption could result in higher economic growth," Wei said.

"If Premier Su's [Tseng-chang's] efforts to get rid of corruption works, 5 percent economic growth next year is a reasonable target," he said.
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