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Ma urges steps to separate party, state

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday instructed the Presidential Office to implement measures to ensure neutrality in administrative and party affairs. The move came after Ma was criticized for keeping a check for his bid to run in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship election in a Presidential Office envelope.

Ma needed a deposit of NT$2 million (US$60,000) to be eligible for registration.

Vice Legislative Speaker Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), who picked up the registration form for Ma at KMT headquarters on Monday, was seen by reporters taking the check out of a Presidential Office envelope.

Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said yesterday that Ma had not known about it until he read yesterday’s newspapers.

Ma then telephoned Presidential Office ­Secretary-­General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) to gain a better understanding of the matter and ordered a thorough examination, Wang said.

To avoid future embarrassment, Ma asked Chan to establish a system for employees at the Presidential Office that would ensure separation of administrative and party matters, the spokesman said.

Wang said Ma attached great importance to separating government affairs from party matters.

Although the measure is yet to be drafted, Wang said it was likely to request presidential staff to maintain administrative neutrality, engage in party activities after office hours or ask for a leave of absence if they had to do so during office hours.

The measure might also demand that the president pay fuel expenses if he or she used the presidential airplane to attend political campaign activities, Wang said.

While the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused the KMT of adopting double standards regarding the use of the presidential jet, Wang said it was unavoidable for the president to participate in party affairs in a democracy.

However, he said, a line had to be drawn between party and government affairs and added that Ma hoped to set an example on the principle of segregating party and government matters.

During former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) term in office, he was accused by the KMT of wasting public resources by ­using the presidential airplane for non-government purposes. Chen later paid the fuel expenses out of his own pocket.

In related news, Tseng yesterday dismissed allegations that each KMT legislator was required to collect 500 signatures in support of Ma’s party chairmanship campaign.

To be eligible for registration, Ma must garner the signatures of 3 percent of registered KMT members, or 15,000 people, before next Wednesday. The election is on July 26.

Ma’s campaign office officially opened yesterday.

Tseng said the office would set up administrative, publicity, ­scheduling and mobilization teams.

Completing the signature collection process was the current priority, Tseng said, adding that the signatures would be sent to the campaign office by Sunday before being forwarded to KMT headquarters on Thursday.

Tsend said Ma insisted that he would pay for all campaign activities out of his own pocket.

Also yesterday, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) took the lead in endorsing Ma’s chairmanship bid, while comparing himself to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Wang became the first signatory to support Ma’s bid at a press conference presided over by Tseng and attended by members of the KMT caucus.

Wang praised Ma’s decision to pursue the chairmanship, saying he agreed that closer cooperation between the party and the Presidential Office would ensure “effective government.”

“[I] believe people’s happiness will be ensured if the government and the legislature join hands to pass bills that will benefit the people,” Wang said.

His endorsement of Ma’s bid could be seen as a symbolic move as local media outlets have speculated that there was an undercurrent of enmity between Ma and Wang since they both ran for the KMT chairmanship in 2005. Wang rejected Ma’s offer to serve as vice chairman after Wang lost.

The speaker said yesterday that all the “unpleasantness” that took place during the “gentlemen’s ­competition” should now be forgotten.

He said Clinton had accepted US President Barack Obama’s invitation to serve as secretary of state despite their rivalry during the Democratic Party presidential primary.

“After Obama became president, Clinton agreed to serve as secretary of state while House Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi also helped push through budget requests and bills. They joined hands to help the US survive the economic downturn,” Wang said.

Meanwhile, incumbent KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池), who is close to Ma, was yesterday elected as the leading deputy secretary-general of the caucus for the fall legislative session and secretary-general of the caucus for the spring session next year.
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