Outgoing Control Yuan President Wang Chien-hsien yesterday said the legislature is one of the worst in the world, but gave President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) a grade of 85 (presumably on a 100-point scale) for his performance over the past six years.
He made the remarks when he appeared as a guest on a News 98 talk radio show hosted by Clara Chou (周玉蔻), a well-known political pundit who ran for Taipei mayor in 2006 for the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
Wang Chien-hsien, who has often created a stir with his remarks, also criticized Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) for his performance as head of the Legislative Yuan, saying that the speaker “should have bowed out a long time ago.”
Despite the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) holding three-quarters of the legislative seats, the party was straitjacketed by opposition lawmakers during Ma’s first presidential term, Wang Chien-hsien said, adding that Ma cannot be blamed for the government’s or the legislature’s poor performance.
Japan and South Korea’s parliaments can deal with 300 or 400 bills a year, but Taiwan’s only manages to get through 100, he said.
The executive branch’s hard work has been stalled by an inefficient legislative branch, he said.
“All we see is legislators locking doors [of meeting rooms], fighting and occupying the speaker’s podium,” he said.
When Chou said that Ma, as KMT chairman, should have used his party power to make improvements in the cross-party negotiation system in the legislature, Wang Chien-hsien said that Ma had made such an effort when he tried to oust Wang Jin-pyng from the party last fall.
The attempt failed “because a judge surprisingly has a right to veto a party when its tries to revoke the membership of one of its members,” the Control Yuan president said.
When asked by Chou if he bore some responsibility for the public criticism of the Control Yuan that he has led for six years, Wang Chien-hsien said no.
“Maybe it does not sound good, but honestly, I do not think there are any… If I made mistakes, I would openly admit them, but I did not,” he said.
He said he could proudly say that he did not do any wrong to the people of Taiwan “should anything happen to Taiwan.”
When asked by Chou to grade Ma’s six years in office, with 60 as the passing grade, Wang Chien-hsien gave the president an 85.
He said everybody would agree with his rating if he had more time on the show to explain his reasoning.
Ma has nominated Central Election Commission Chairperson Chang Po-ya (張博雅) as the next Control Yuan president.
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