The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday asked President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to propose measures to prevent recurring government corruption.
The Taipei District Court on Saturday granted a prosecutors’ request to detain Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lai Su-ju (賴素如), a confidante of Ma who stands accused of taking bribes related to the bidding for the Taipei Twin Towers project.
“The Ma government has to provide measures to prevent corruption from occurring regularly. The government should make reforms at a political, cultural and national level to lessen the chances of corruption,” former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in Changhua County.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The measures should include making public project bids more transparent and efficient, she said.
DPP spokesman Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said the party was calling on the president to devise measures that would more effectively restrain his administration’s officials from being corrupt, adding that if he Ma did not do so, his apology over the Lai case and claims to be anti-corruption are disingenuous.
Lin added that the party has also asked Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), a KMT member, to make every detail about the bidding process for the Taipei Twin Towers public.
The high-profile development project could have been a defining feature of the nation, but has instead turned out to be a nightmare that has damaged Taiwan’s reputation, Lin said.
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