The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said it constituted a conflict of interest for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) eldest sister, Ma Yi-nan (馬以南), to serve as a ranking member of the Chinese National Federation of Industries.
Speaking at a press conference, acting DPP Spokesman Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said Ma Yi-nan was recently invited to serve as the convener of the organization’s biotechnology section.
Chao said it was possible that Ma Yi-nan could use her position to act as a convenient “gate goddess” (門神) and ensure that the wishes of biotechnology and pharmaceutical interest groups are heard and granted by the government.
During last year’s presidential campaign, Ma Yi-nan’s business integrity and ties to her brother were called into question when DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) accused Ma Ying-jeou of violating the Public Officials’ Conflicts of Interests Prevention Act (公職人員利益衝突迴避法) by helping his sister, who worked as the deputy manager of China Chemical Pharmaceutical Co at the time, secure a contract supplying drugs to Taipei City Municipal Hospital during his term as mayor in 1998.
Chao said Ma Yi-nan had been invited to her current position by a man named Chen Huang-ming (陳煌銘), chairman of Kung Sing Engineering Corporation (KSECO), the primary contractor in the construction of the problematic Neihu rapid transit line.
KSECO has also been accused of funneling large political donations to Ma Ying-jeou and the matter remains unresolved, Chao added.
At a separate setting yesterday, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) dismissed the DPP’s accusation, saying the president has asked his family members, including first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青), to quit their jobs to prevent possible conflicts of interest.
Wang said the Chinese National Federation of Industries was a private group.
Not all opinions from private groups become government policy, he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
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