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Legislators grill Control Yuan hopefuls

Wang Chien-shien, the nominee for the Control Yuan presidency, said yesterday that he expected all Control Yuan members to be impartial and carry out probes without influence from family or friends.

During a presentation at the legislature, Wang called on all Control Yuan nominees to heed their responsibilities and the public’s desire for a clean government.

“Over the past years, the government had become seriously corrupt. The public is therefore eager to see clean politics and government,” he said.

“If Control Yuan members do not keep this in mind once they assume office, they will never achieve this goal,” he said.

Wang made the remarks at the legislature before the first interpellation session to review President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) nominees for the Control Yuan.

All of the 29 nominees, including Wang and Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), nominee for vice president, are required to answer questions from legislators at three plenary sessions through tomorrow.

Legislators are scheduled to vote on the nominees on Friday.

The Control Yuan, the nation’s top supervisory branch, has been vacant since Jan. 31, 2005, as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators refused to review former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) nominees.

Citing Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption as a model worth emulating, Wang said he hoped the nation would establish a “clean politics administration” under the Control Yuan’s jurisdiction, but acknowledged that this would require amending the Constitution.

Wang was grilled by legislators across party lines yesterday about his loyalty and whether he had violated the Constitution by discussing the nomination list with the president.

Wang told Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Lin Ping-kuan (林炳坤) that although he had spent considerable time over the past years doing charity work in China, his love for Taiwan had never wavered.

Wang said he had tried to promote goodwill toward Taiwan by doing charity work in China.

The nation’s “security cannot depend solely on arms procurement from the US but must also depend on peace across the Taiwan Strait ... I came to Taiwan at the age of 10. I’m 70 now. I’ve lived in Taiwan much longer than Chen Shui-bian has,” he said.

Wang later dismissed criticism from Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), who accused him of attempting to influence Ma’s nominations for the Control Yuan.

“I care about the nomination list very much. I was only giving the president some suggestions,” he said.

In response to DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡遑瑯), who suggested Wang and Shen might seek renomination to the Control Yuan after completing their first terms, Wang said: “I would be in heaven by then.”

Meanwhile, Shen admitted that he had accepted a political donation of less than NT$1 million (US$32,900) from tycoon-turned-fugitive Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪) 14 years ago, but he said he had reported the money in accordance with the law for disclosing the annual assets of public officials.

He declined to answer KMT Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆), who asked about Wang’s support of claims by Chen Yu-hao in 2004 ahead of the presidential election that the businessman had given a donation to then-first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) a decade earlier.

DPP legislative caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) asked the nominees to serve only one term.

He told a press conference at the legislature that nominees should also cancel their party membership before assuming their posts.

He said these two requests must be met before the DPP caucus decides whether to support the nominees.

DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) said there were 15 politicians among the 29 nominees, adding that she doubted the ability of those 15 people to fulfill the duties of the job.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
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