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Ma backs Examination Yuan nominee

Examination Yuan president nominee Chang Chun-yen chokes back tears during a press conference yesterday as he denies allegations he received payments from the Polaris Group when he was president of National Chiao Tung University. PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

The Presidential Office reaffirmed its support for Examination Yuan president nominee Chang Chun-yen (張俊彥) yesterday over allegations that he has received payments from a business group since 2004, and said that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would not withdraw Chang’s nomination.

Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) accused the media of spreading rumors.

“After Chang explained the matter, the Presidential Office understood that he did not violate the law and he is not greedy for money because he had made generous donations to the public,” Wang told a press conference at the Presidential Office.

While acknowledging that Ma did not have detailed understanding of all the nominees’ backgrounds, Wang said Ma has no plans to withdraw Chang’s nomination.

Wang urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and its legislators to support all of Ma’s Control Yuan and Examination Yuan nominees.

A Next Magazine article on Wednesday said Chang, the former president of National Chiao Tung University, has been claiming “public relations expenses” from Polaris Financial Group (PFG) since 2004 when the university conferred an honorary doctorate on the group’s chairman, Wayne Pai (白文正).

“I accepted President Ma’s invitation to be his nominee, and I will not go back on what I promised.” — Chang Chun-yen, Examination Yuan president nominee

Chang had also named the university’s international scholar house, Mushu Hall after his parents, Next reported.

At a separate news conference, Chang said he had been “seriously humiliated” by the magazine story. Proclaiming his innocence, Chang said he will insist on seeking the legislature’s support for his nomination.

“I accepted President Ma’s invitation to be his nominee, and I will not go back on what I promised,” he said. “I will stay on this road and I will not quit unless something like a car accident occurs.”

A tearful Chang said that after his retirement from the university in 2006 he had served for a while as an unpaid adviser to the Polaris Financial Group and he stressed that he had never received money from the company.

He said the inspiration for “Mushu Hall” came from his motto, which urges people to fulfill their filial duty to their parents before too late, rather than the names of his parents.

Chang also dismissed the claim that he was behind Pai receiving the honorary doctorate, saying the university’s committee had conferred the degree.

Ma nominated Chang last month to head the Examination Yuan, which is in charge of recruiting and managing the country’s civil servants.

Some KMT legislators have given Chang the cold shoulder because of his ties to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

He was an adviser to Chen in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election.

Some KMT legislators said yesterday they doubted Chang was the right person to head the Examination Yuan.

“We are still not convinced,” KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said, adding that it would be difficult for Chang’s nomination to be approved.

KMT Legislator Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝) asked Chang to recuse himself, saying that no other university president in the nation had ever been accused of a similar scandal.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
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