With only two weeks left, it seems a foregone hope that any issues can be salvaged out of what is perhaps the most mud-filled campaign so far in this young democracy. Despite appeals from NGOs and concerned commentators -- and with so many real issues crying for attention -- the presidential race has degenerated into a schoolyard battle of name-calling.
The fact that the so-called "character issue" so overwhelms policy debate is objectionable enough, but there is a particular aspect that is especially disturbing -- the way in which the justice system is caught up in the thick of things.
Of course, political abuse of the justice system is not unique to Taiwan. In Singapore, the government has made an art form out of libel suits against political opponents.
Unsurprisingly, we do not find so clearcut a picture, but instead a judicial Wild West, a litigious free-for-all. There are three categories of problems. First, the incredible frequency with which politicians justify their accusations and their defenses by filing libel suits. Second, the fact that so many politicians are in fact involved in criminal activities and the way in which their legal battles are orchestrated for political advantage. Third is the fact that election regulations themselves are regularly flaunted with impunity.
This campaign has taken this idea to new depths. First came the prosecution of James Soong
Then Liu Sung-pan
And now Chen Shui-bian
The fact is that none of these suits or countersuits can possibly be decided before the election. Most will probably be forgotten. They are searing political hot potatoes for the hapless judges who have to try them, as Chuang Shen-yuan
The effect on the judicial system is not hard to guess. The long-term solution must involve pressing ahead with judicial reform: judges and prosecutors need to start building up a track record of political impartiality to reduce the public's grave suspicions about their motives.
It would help, too, if the news media were more professional. If editors were more responsible for the content of their stories, instead of breathlessly pursuing ever gaudier tabloid headlines, spurious accusations would never make an impact.
The real victims of this judicialization of politics are the voters, and it falls to them to rectify the situation. Since the politicians have no sense of responsibility for the judicial system, and the system itself appears unable to resist the political manipulations foisted upon it, the people have to use their own common sense to sift out the grains of truth from the mud and cast their votes for candidates who will uphold the integrity of the system. In democratic politics, the voters are both judge and jury.
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