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Ma vows to battle graft without bias

President Ma Ying-jeou and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan hold hands while singing together at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s 17th national congress at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday pledged to investigate all corruption scandals across party lines, but added that he would use his authority carefully and refrain from interfering with the judicial system.

Recent detentions of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and former government officials served as a warning for his administration and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and the government will insist on integrity and prevent corruption, Ma said.

“I do not take pleasure in the detention of former government officials ... We are the ruling party and thus we need to use our authority more carefully, investigating all corruption scandals across party lines no matter who is involved in the cases,” Ma said yesterday at the KMT’s 17th national congress at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei.

Dismissing challenges from some party members over what has been called his lack of determination to investigate corruption cases involving Chen, Ma said that he had done “everything a president can do” to combat corruption by members of the former Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) government, but stressed that he would not abuse his power and that his administration would build a society based on law.

Ma also defended his determination to protect Taiwanese sovereignty while making efforts to improve cross-strait relations.

He vowed to continue promoting his “diplomatic truce” policy while maintaining the country’s defensive forces by purchasing arms from the US.

Ma said that his administration would continue to focus on seeking meaningful participation in activities by the UN’s specialized agencies.

Instead of bidding for full membership in the global body as Taiwan had in the past, the Ma administration sought “meaningful participation” in activities under UN specialized agencies at the WHA held in May.

Speaking about clashes between the police and protesters during the visit of Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) earlier this month, Ma again voiced his support for an amendment to the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法), but said it was important to strike a balance between protecting the public’s right to gather and maintaining public order.

Ma once again called on the public to have faith in the government’s ability to lead the country out of the current economic slowdown, urging all political parties to set aside ideological differences and tackle the crisis.
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