DPP must abolish agencies
Following last week’s decision by the Control Yuan to impeach former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠), 70 academics have published an open letter criticizing the body for passing an extrajudicial pronouncement of guilt before a trial has taken place.
Putting aside the questionable legal basis for the impeachment and the questionable way in which Control Yuan members arrived at their judgement, it is clear that the continued existence of the body will only create more such problems in the future.
It should have been abolished years ago and the sooner it is consigned to the dustbin of history, the better.
During the administration of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), former Control Yuan president Wang Chien-shien mocked the body for being nothing more than a “retirement home” and “chicken ribs” (Chinese slang for something of little or no value).
Meanwhile, pan-blue camp legislators, citing a report published by a political think tank, criticized the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan for stifling progress and impeding the nation’s political development — and added that there was no reason for either body’s continued existence.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), then in opposition, went even further, issuing strident appeals for the immediate abolition of both bodies.
However, following the DPP’s return to government last year, it significantly toned down its rhetoric. The government has been dragging its feet on the issue, saying that the bodies could still perform a useful function.
It is no secret that the executive, judicial and legislative functions performed by the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan are at best of questionable value, and at worst totally superfluous. Legislators have a mandate to independently exercise the authority bestowed upon them by the public as they see fit, while members of the two bodies simply disrupt the legislative process and throw a spanner in the works of democratic government. It is for this reason that there is now a consensus among the public to abolish both the bodies.
Since a majority of the public approves of abolishing the two bodies, the time is ripe to amend the Constitution. This begs the question: what is the DPP waiting for?
If the party says one thing in opposition and then does another when in government — and then shows signs that it is beginning to believe its own lies — how can it hope to maintain the support of the public?
Chi An-hsiu
Taipei
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