President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) attempts to explain the Presidential Office's controversial special allowance fund are understandable, but they will have limited effect if their purpose is to justify continuing the system, analysts say.
"The system is the legacy of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime and a typical case of transitional justice," said Chen Yen-hui (陳延輝), a professor at the Graduate Institute of Political Science at National Taiwan Normal University.
In a bid to allay public concern over the Presidential Office's special allowance fund, Chen received Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers and media talk show hosts on Monday, showing them documents in a bid to dismiss the embezzlement allegation.
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office launched an investigation into allegations of embezzlement at the Presidential Office after the Ministry of Audit claimed that documents related to the Presidential Office's reimbursement of expenditures from a special allowance fund last year contained irregularities.
KMT legislators alleged that first lady Wu Shu-jen (
The Presidential Office issued a statement on Monday, saying that the president would be happy to personally explain the matter to prosecutors and investigators.
Chen yesterday met Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to offer a personal account. He showed Wang documents on how the fund was allocated during Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) presidency.
President Chen is further planning to meet with the opposition parties' legislative caucus whips, and the Presidential Office is studying the possibility of explaining the matter directly to the public.
Commenting on President Chen's all-out efforts to clear up the controversy, Chen Yen-hui said that they would have little meaning if the system did not become more open and transparent.
KMT practice
"While nobody dared to question the Presidential Office's special allowance fund during the KMT's reign, the DPP administration has drawn a lot of flak for simply following the practice established by the KMT," he said.
Although it was understandable that the the president wanted to prove his innocence, Chen Yen-hui said that it might have limited effect because lawmakers have little influence on the judicial system, especially as most prosecutors and investigators are pro-KMT.
Moreover, KMT legislators would most likely reject any explanation by President Chen, while DPP legislators who are anxious to win next year's legislative election may choose to distance themselves from or even attack President Chen in hopes of garnering more votes.
Chen Yen-hui said he suspected that the embezzlement allegations and string of corruption scandals were an inside job initiated by pro-KMT career civil servants, who knew the flaws in the government's system very well.
This, however, was not entirely bad for the development of the country, Chen Yen-hui said, because the revelation of administrative irregularities could lessen corruption.
Ku Chung-hwa (
To solve the problem once and for all, Ku called on the administration to reassess the government's operations and make the necessary adjustments.
Regarding the controversy over the salary of the president's family housekeeper, Ku said that he considered it a petty matter and that the opposition parties were making a mountain out of a molehill.
Chen Yen-hui echoed Ku's opinion, saying that he did not understand why the president could not hire a housekeeper to take care of their home and the wheelchair-bound first lady.
The Presidential Office came under fire for the allegedly improper use of taxpayers' money to pay for domestic help for the family of President Chen's daughter.
The Presidential Office argued that the president was still the owner of the apartment on Min-sheng E Road, where his daughter Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤) and her husband, Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘), now reside.
The Presidential Office put the domestic helper, Lin Hsiu-jen (
Lin has continued to serve the family of Chen Shui-bian's daughter after he and the first lady moved to the official Yushan Residence on Chongqing S Road in January 2001.
`Auntie A-ching' quits
Bowing to mounting pressure, Lin -- better known to the public as A-ching sao (阿卿嫂), or "Auntie A-ching" -- yesterday resigned her position as an employee of the Presidential Office. Her resignation was approved by the president.
The Presidential Office issued a statement last night reiterating that although Lin had been hired legally, the president would start paying Lin using his own money.
The president's daughter will reimburse the money the Presidential Office paid to Lin since October 2001, when Chen Hsing-yu moved into the Minsheng Road apartment after her wedding, the statement said.
Ku said that the incident may cause a clamor, but he did not think it would be the "last straw" that would break the administration.
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