Even though corruption in Taiwan may not be as serious as it is in other places -- Transparency International's latest annual report ranks Taiwan in third place, behind Russia and China -- there is no cause for complacency. In fact the report should serve as a wake-up call for the government, which has made cleaning up political corruption one of its primary goals. Two years of determined effort and the nation is still ranked as high as third?
The Ministry of Justice has received high public approval ratings since Chen Ding-nan (
However, all that hard work has been marred by the fact that many of the key suspects in such cases remain free, thanks to their status as legislators. Others have fled abroad and show no signs of planning to return. Such cases make the average person doubt the ministry's claim that everyone is equal before the law.
The Constitution only exempts legislators from legal responsibility for what they say on the legislative floor, not from criminal liability. The Legislative Yuan should not obstruct the judiciary by repeatedly citing what is clearly an unconstitutional rule that prohibits law enforcement authorities from searching its premises or detaining legislators when the legislature is in session. This rule has only led to legislators implicated in criminal cases fleeing the country before the legislature recesses -- and returning only after the next legislative session has begun. As long as they remain legislators they cannot be summoned for questioning or called into court. If they lose their seat, they can leave the country before the end of their terms and continue to evade investigation.
Legislators should lead by example. They are, and unfortunately, it is in the worst way possible. County and city council members are following suit -- declaring that they must remain above the law while their councils are in session, even if they are facing criminal charges. Two years ago the then speaker of the Chiayi County Council, Hsiao Teng-piao (
Most people don't understand the legal rational for allowing the legislators to break the law with impunity. What they do know is that the average person can't get away with such shenanigans. And they know that such regulations let elected officials get away with murder -- both figuratively and literally. Elected representatives have been linked to crimes such as illegally altering land-use zones, bid-rigging, illegal gravel mining and running gambling dens and brothels. The lesson appears to be that crime does pay, especially if you can get elected to public office.
So why hasn't the government tried to close this loophole? Simple -- some of the very legislators who would have to vote on such a change, are themselves implicated in criminal cases. Those whose hands are clean lack the moral courage to take the initiative and propose an amendment that is guaranteed to make enemies among their colleagues.
This is one of the stark realities of Taiwan's fledgling democracy. As long as such elected officials can get evade the law, the international community will view Taiwan as an "island of greed." This is one stain that will take even more than the much-needed rains to wash away.
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