Another tempest in a teapot, more political hypocrisy -- has there ever been a politician in Taiwan willing to stand on principles when their personal interests are challenged?
Former interior minister Chang Po-ya (
Newspapers and TV call-in shows pounced on the story, turning their guns on the DPP and TSU. The accusations from Chang and people like KMT Legislator Li Chia-chin (
However, Chang and Li were not so willing to tell their stories once prosecutors launched an investigation. Both played hide-and-seek with prosecutors for several days -- until the prosecutors threatened to ask the courts to issue summons to them. When Chang and Li finally showed up at the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office on Wednesday, they had changed their stories, saying that they had merely overheard allegations of vote-buying. After leaving the prosecutors' office Chang told reporters that she had never said she saw people buying or selling votes inside the legislature. She had only said "one of us" had seen it. Li, in turn, said his responsibility was only to blow the whistle and that looking for evidence was the prosecutor's job.
Such irresponsible sophistry and groundless claims are not just ludicrous -- they are libelous. Chang has seriously damaged her career with this mud-slinging vendetta. If she has an axe to grind, it should be with the opposition parties which had promised to support her nomination. Chang lost, by one vote, because both the KMT and the PFP banned their lawmakers from the legislative floor that day to prevent them from voting for Yao.
As an independent, Chang's political career has always been a balancing act between the DPP and the KMT. Chang's political support stems largely from the admiration and respect for her mother, Hsu Shih-hsien (
How disappointing to see how low Hsu's daughter has fallen that she would stoop to such slander. It would appear that her years of power and privilege have gone to her head. The public has learned to expect little more than such outlandish comments from KMT politicians and lawmakers, but such actions should be condemned nevertheless. The same can't be said of Chang. Both Chang and Li should publicly apologize for their false accusations and for creating yet another divisive scandal.
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