Fri, Sep 22, 2000 page12

• Editorial: More shame from the legislature

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  The Legislative Yuan shamed Taiwan again yesterday by electing Lo Fu-chu (羅福助), the self-confessed "spiritual leader" of Taiwan's biggest crime syndicate, as convener of its Judiciary Committee. Not to be outdone, Gary Wang (王令麟), out on bail until Wednesday following the Taiwan Development (台開) probe in which he has been charged with forgery and breach of trust, got himself elected convener of the Finance Committee.

  It was not the first time Lo and Wang have been elected to these committees. But yesterday's election of the legislature's committee conveners was the first since the new government came to office. Obviously, the transition of political power has had no effect whatsoever on the deplorable nature of the legislature, which often seems little more than a sanctuary for brigands masquerading as a parliament.

  The recent crackdown on "black gold" has made some lawmakers feel unsafe, even behind the shield of their constitutionally guaranteed immunity from prosecution. As a result, they have sought influence in legislative committees through which, utilizing the committees' power to review budgets and regulations of specific government agencies, they can exert pressure to be left alone to get on with their criminal activities.

  It might be argued in the legislature's defense that since neither Lo nor Wang have been convicted of any wrongdoing, they are perfectly entitled to stand as candidates in the elections for convener. But the law is only a minimal ethical standard. We should demand standards far higher from elected representatives, recipients of the people's trust. Yesterday's absurdities could not have happened if our legislators, some of whom perhaps are actually law-abiding, had been capable of feeling and acting upon a sense of shame over their colleagues being implicated in criminal cases, or if they had been the least bit sensitive to public opinion. This was not to be, and Taiwan can only be the worse for it.

  If this thunderhead has any silver lining at all it might be in the DPP caucus's successfully talking their colleague Chen Sheng-hung (陳勝宏) -- who also has a case pending against him -- out of running for the position of convener of the Judiciary Committee, and replacing him with Lee Ching-hsiung (李慶雄). Perhaps this successful screening by the DPP may prevent the legislature's reputation from hitting rock bottom.

  The legislature is rotten to the core; who or what is to blame?

  First of all, we could blame the multiple-member district electoral system, which allows questionable politicians to nudge their way into the legislature by controlling small groups of voters. We could also blame the "legislator at large" (不分區立委) system, whereby tycoons can get themselves nominated as legislators -- rather than having to win an election -- by funding the election campaigns of a few party favorites. We can also blame political parties that nominated "black gold" politicians as candidates in legislative elections. The KMT has begun to pay for its sins with the loss of central government power, but this process has far to go.

  But we must also blame the electorate, for lacking the courage to resist vote-buying and social pressure, and for selling their country for a measly couple of thousand dollars each. We must also blame the government for not cracking down on "black gold" earlier and for not being more efficient in their crackdown.

  The lamentable results of yesterday's elections have made one thing clear: the foundation of political reform lies in the reform of the legislature, which in turn depends on a commitment throughout society to clean itself up. Next year's legislative elections will allow us to pass judgement on this rotten legislature, but they will also allow the outside world to pass judgment on what kind of a society we want to build. Let us hope that judgment is not adverse.
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