A recent poll found that close to half of Taiwanese believe that former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) did not receive fair trials, but more than half do not think he was a victim of political persecution, the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation said yesterday.
Chen served more than six years of a 20-year prison sentence for several convictions on corruption charges before being released on medical parole in January last year.
While 45.9 percent of respondents said Chen was not given fair trials, 37.8 percent said he was.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Asked if former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was responsible for the improper prosecution of Chen, 45.7 percent of respondents said he was not, while 43.2 percent thought that he was.
Asked if Chen was a victim of political persecution, 56.5 percent said he was not, while 35.1 percent said he was.
“The poll results show that doubts persist over Chen’s cases, which are like a ‘specter haunting Taiwan,’” foundation chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) said.
The polarized perceptions over Chen’s convictions are a serious political issue, which the new government has tried to avoid, but the issue must be tackled if the government wants to ease social divisions, You said.
Former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Chien Hsi-chieh, the deputy director of an anti-corruption “red shirts” campaign against Chen, said the former president should be given a special pardon to reduce ethnic and political tensions.
“Chen’s corruption image will be remembered in history. Moral criticism is enough [to condemn him], and we do not have to use penal sentences to insult him anymore,” Chien said.
National Dong Hwa University professor Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) also called on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to pardon Chen to ease social divisions.
“Tsai hesitates to pardon Chen because she is either seeking a consensus over the issue or trying to secure re-election. However, it is the president’s duty to ease social tension,” Shih said.
National Cheng Kung University law professor Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said the lack of a pardon for Chen was behind the sharp decline in Tsai’s approval ratings, as voters in central and southern Taiwan are keen to see him pardoned.
There were procedural flaws in Chen’s prosecution and conviction, as one judge was unexpectedly replaced ahead of a trial, while Chen was convicted on a corruption charge without substantial evidence, as the judges ruled that he had “substantial influence” although not the authority over a land acquisition project of the Hsinchu Science Park, Hsu said.
The poll also showed that Tsai’s approval rating dipped by 0.7 percentage points from last month to 44 percent, showing that a sharp decline in her approval ratings has been halted, You said.
However, the percentage of people dissatisfied with Tsai’s performance has increased from 8.8 percent in May to 41.2 percent this month.
“The downward slide of Tsai’s approval ratings has stopped, but a ‘volcano’ has turned up in her way,” You said, referring to the dissatisfaction increase.
Asked about Tsai’s refusal to mention the so-called “1992 consensus” in her Double Ten National Day speech, 48.5 percent of respondents said they approved and 41.3 percent disapproved.
As for Premier Lin Chuan’s (林全) Cabinet, 49.9 percent said it does not have the ability to solve problems, while 32.4 percent said it does.
More than half of the respondents (53.7 percent) thought it was not appropriate that Ma has made two requests to travel abroad since leaving office, while 37.4 percent of respondents said it was alright.
The poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday last week, collected 1,083 valid samples and has a margin of error of 2.98 percentage points.
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