President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) plans to invite Control Yuan members to the Presidential Office for tea after he returns from his trip to Latin America on Saturday, the Presidential Office said on Tuesday, after the government watchdog said it had not ruled out the possibility of questioning the president over the problem-plagued Wenshan-Neihu Line of the Taipei MRT system.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said Ma would take the initiative to invite Control Yuan members to the Presidential Office for tea before the Lunar New Year.
Control Yuan members questioned Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) over the MRT line on Nov. 11 and said that they did not rule out questioning Ma, who served as Taipei mayor when the line was planned.
Wang said the Control Yuan did not have the power to impeach the president, adding that their questioning Ma could cause constitutional controversy.
To avoid the risk, Wang said the president would invite Control Yuan members to the Presidential Office to give a clear account.
“We will cooperate fully,” he said.
The line connecting Muzha and Neihu has experienced several malfunctions and system breakdowns, while the city government has been accused of rushing the trial period and opening the line before making sure the systems ran smoothly.
During his interview with the Control Yuan in November, Hau told Control Yuan members that the city government did not put the line into operation ahead of schedule or shorten the line’s trial period. Hau blamed the line’s frequent shutdowns on the initial network design, without elaborating.
The Control Yuan said summoning the president to answer questions on the issue would set a constitutional precedent, but that its members would do so if necessary.
In addition to the line, Hau’s administration was recently censured by the Control Yuan over the construction of the Maokong Gondola, which was built during Ma’s time as Taipei mayor. The system has been shut down since the foundations of a support pillar eroded away during a typhoon in 2008.
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