Because some ministry heads are not coming to the Legislative Yuan for interpellation, lawmakers are considering passing a law to hold no-shows in contempt. Ironically, ministry heads often wait for hours for scheduled committee meetings only to find that the talks are cancelled because not enough lawmakers have shown up. To be fair, shouldn't these legislators also enact a law to punish themselves for the crime of "contempt for the Executive Yuan?"
Members of the Legislative Yuan should first take a look at themselves. Have they been doing their job properly? Have they been abusing their immunity privileges when they kick government officials around for fun? Have they been deliberately making things difficult for officials during interpellation in an effort to make those officials cave into their demands?
Given lawmakers' preoccupation with such activities, it is hard to imagine that they have any time left to serve the voters. The people of Taiwan see almost the same group of lawmakers on call-in talk shows everyday. In front of the TV cameras, they wear the same professional smile typical of TV actors. Some lawmakers even host nightly talk shows and invite their allies to join in attacking their political enemies. They never give their victims a chance to defend for themselves. Nowadays, the job of many lawmakers' assistants is to think of ways to generate news regarding their masters and to pray that their masters' names appear in newspapers or on TV.
People used to say that reporters are trouble makers. Today, the description better fits Taiwan's legislators and their assistants. Where is their dignity? Does knowing how to perform in front of the cameras, make wise cracks and leak national secrets earn them respect?
Opposition lawmakers have established a so-called "ghost buster team." Team members claim that the purpose of the group is to monitor corruption and misconduct by the DPP government, especially that involving state-owned enterprises and the foundations under the Executive Yuan. Some of these lawmakers began to take aim at the build-operate-transfer projects of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (台灣高鐵), accusing the government of wrongdoing. Then they criticized the government for trying to appoint DPP members to high-ranking management positions at state-owned enterprises, including Chinese Petroleum Corp (中國石油) and Taipower (台電). Facing mounting pressure, the two companies released a list of people who sought funding from their so-called "good neighbor" funds. Many lawmakers' names appeared on the list; many of them are members of the "ghost buster team." So, it appears, the "ghost buster team" may be engaging in some unscrupulous blackmailing.
On Tuesday, a report emerged from Washington about the abrupt cancellation of a Taiwan-US-Japan military conference being held in Taiwan by the American Enterprise Institute. According to the report, the cancellation was due primarily to the international community's distrust toward Taiwan created by the exposure of the National Security Bureau's secret accounts. This is a major blow to Taiwan's survival and security.
If the report is true, it demonstrates that Taiwan is facing an unprecedented crisis in international trust. No wonder Taiwan is having trouble becoming an observer of the WHO. Facing such serious crises, salvaging the international community's confidence is Taiwan's most urgent task. The nation can ill afford to have bickering between the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan as well as deadly duels between political parties. Now is not the time to point the finger and cry "contempt."
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