Sun, Mar 29, 2009 page3

• Citizen Congress Watch tells legislators to behave

  • By Loa Iok-sin / STAFF REPORTER
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  Disappointed by the seventh legislature’s performance a year after its inauguration, Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) yesterday urged lawmakers to focus on their duties, be “civilized” and watch what they say.

  “It’s been a year since the seventh legislature began, but instead of setting good examples for the public and focusing on work, our lawmakers often engage in misconduct that breaks the rules they themselves create,” CCW executive director Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said, citing several incidents involving “inappropriate” remarks or behavior on the part of lawmakers.

  In one incident in October, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰) said a colleague needed a husband to stop her from complaining.

  Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) had expressed anger at a government policy at a meeting of the Internal Administration Committee, to which Lu said: “The only way to make Chiu happy is to find her a husband.”

  In another incident the same month, DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) slapped KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) after Hung hit Kuan’s office aide.

  Kuan was later sent to the Discipline Committee, which suspended her legislative authority for three months.

  Also that month, KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) called Kuan “shameless” after the two got into an argument.

  Earlier this month, Lu said Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) had suffered a minor stroke two years ago as punishment for the then-DPP government’s decision to change the name of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to National Taiwan Democracy Hall. Lu said the change had offended Chiang’s ghost.

  Last week, in response to news that parents with a higher level of education were less willing to have children amid the economic crisis, KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) said: “Today it’s only those lower class workers with a lower education who have nothing that would have children, and their children will just grow up to become homeless people.”

  “We regret that, among all these incidents of misconduct, only the case involving Kuan and Hung was sent to the Discipline Committee,” CCW chairman Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華) said. “We expect our legislature to be civilized, driven by public interests, transparent and efficient.”

  In response, Kuo and Lu both said they had not meant to offend anyone. Kuan said it was not fair that the legislature had punished her, but she said she would improve her performance.
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