President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday brushed off the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) treason suit against him, saying he would stick to his decisions despite some people’s opposition.
“There will be people who are not satisfied with us no matter what we do. But we should keep on doing the right things,” Ma said when meeting with residents of Shihkang Township (石岡) in Taichung County.
“Don’t be scared off by some treason lawsuit. We should continue doing things that should be done,” he said.
The remarks were Ma’s first public response to the lawsuit filed on Friday. The DPP is accusing Ma of treason over his decision on Wednesday to revoke the classification of documents allegedly implicating former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in Chen’s “state affairs fund” trial. The documents are being held by the Taipei District Court as evidence in a corruption and forgery scandal in which Chen has been named a codefendant.
Chen’s wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), was indicted on charges of corruption and forgery on Nov. 3, 2006, for using receipts provided by others to claim a total of NT$14.8 million (US$473,000) from the president’s discretionary state affairs fund.
The DPP caucus said the declassification would reveal confidential information such as the names of national security agents and the nation’s dealings with foreign countries.
Ma said yesterday he respected different opinions regarding the issue.
In response to a local resident’s question about criticism from underground radio stations over the matter, Ma said: “Taiwan is a democratic society, and we can’t shut down those underground radio stations because they hold different thoughts ... I believe in the wisdom of the Taiwanese people to make their own judgments.”
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