The top-ranked legislators for the past legislative session from each of the eight legislative committees — selected through a Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) evaluation process — were honored at a ceremony in Taipei yesterday.
Using data collected during the legislative session from March to July, CCW invited more than 100 citizens from different walks of life to grade legislators’ performance based on criteria including attendance, the number of proposals they made and whether they were involved in inappropriate behavior.
After receiving his trophy and certificate from CCW chairman Ku Chung-hua (顧忠華), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) of the Internal Administration Committee said CCW’s effort was an important step in promoting legislative transparency.
“For most voters, media reports are the only sources of information about the legislature. However, the media don’t always tell the whole story,” Wu said. “What CCW is doing is helping people see what many lawmakers are actually doing.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) of the Judiciary and Organic Law and Statutes Committee agreed.
“Only whistleblowers and physical clashes in the legislature get exposure from the media, so many people think that’s all the legislature is about,” Wong said. “However, many of our colleagues work really hard and do what they’re supposed to do, but they don’t get any media attention. So we do need fair reviewers like CCW to tell people who the good lawmakers are.”
The award recipients defended CCW against criticism from some of their colleagues.
KMT legislators Chiu Yi (邱毅) and Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who received very low grades, have dismissed the CCW review as “unfair.” Chiu said CCW was trying to defame him, accusing the watchdog of having a pro-DPP bias and trying to defend former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Wu yesterday dismissed Chiu’s accusations.
“It’s the job of a legislator to monitor the executive branch. However, legislators also need to be monitored, and we should all be open-minded about it,” he said. “That way, we can improve the legislature and society as a whole.”
Although she said she had come under pressure from her peers not to attend the ceremony, KMT Legislator Nancy Chao (趙麗雲) echoed Wu’s remarks.
“As long as you’re involved in public affairs, you have to accept public scrutiny, and it’s totally correct and proper for legislators to be watched by CCW,” said Chao, the top performer from the Education and Culture Committee.
DPP legislators Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) of the Foreign and National Defense Committee and William Lai (賴清德) of the Health, Environment and Labor Committee and the KMT’s Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳) of the Economics Committee received CCW’s “outstanding legislator award” in person, while KMT Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) of the Finance Committee and the DPP’s Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) of the Transportation Committee were unable to attend because of previous engagements.
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