No government official likes to go to the legislature for interpellation. They think it's a form of torture.
The late Yu Ta-wei (
But the democratic politics of Taiwan in Yu's days were quite different from what we have now. In those days, who in the KMT-dominated legislature would dare go against something Chiang Kai-shek (
But Chen Shui-bian (
But Chen is not someone to surrender to destiny. When he was deputy mayor of Taipei, he also snubbed the city council many times.
In blindly trying to protect Chen, DPP lawmakers appear confused about the legislature's role. When the KMT was in power, any political appointee who refused to show up for interpellation four times or who ignored resolutions by the legislature would surely be attacked by the DPP. Even the chief of the general staff, who for more than 40 years had not been required to show up for interpellations, had to go to the legislature and listen to lectures after the DPP sought and won a favorable constitutional interpretation on the issue. This was the DPP's contribution to the legislature when it was an opposition party.
But now the director of the National Security Bureau has refused six times to show up for interpellation, while the secretary-general to the president has snubbed the legislature four times. Other Cabinet officials are following suit, trying their best to play hooky or temporize.
Facing this unprecedented change in the Legislative Yuan, lawmakers from all parties should be joining hands to defend their Maginot Line. But DPP lawmakers have done exactly the opposite.
In democracies, politicians and political parties rise and fall, but political operations should abide by laws and precedents. They should not be bent according to the will of an individual or a party.
Which political appointee should show up at the legislature, when they should show up and what questions they should answer are the ABCs of democratic politics. We only need to carry them out according to laws and precedents.
But Taiwan's politicians want to turn this simple ABC formula into a complicated XYZ, leading to daily hostilities between the ruling and opposition parties. This is not just the degeneration of politicians; it is the degeneration of democracy.
"When in power, remember the days of not being in power. Plant the good seeds early and harvest the good fruit. If one plants the bad seeds when not in power, there will be no end to reprisals and retributions."
This is a doggerel-like song written many years ago by former senior adviser to the president Tao Pai-chuan (陶百川), who is now ill and bedridden.
The logic of his song is simple and easy to understand. Before they take a position on the issue of whether government officials should go to the legislature to answer questions, lawmakers should read this song a few times and plant some more good seeds for their own future.
Wang Chien-chuang is president of The Journalist magazine.
Translated by Francis Huang
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