Six current and former legislators from three political parties, including former New Power Party chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), have been accused of taking bribes. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) did not mince her words about the scandal, as she warned Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members who might yearn for power and wealth that they should leave the party.
The reason that lawmakers across party lines take bribes can be found in a fundamental problem with the political campaign system. Without thorough reform, it would keep happening.
The problem with campaigns is their huge cost. Take the six lawmakers for example: They spent between NT$30 million (US$1.02 million) and nearly NT$100 million on elections. The monthly salary of a Taiwanese lawmaker is about NT$200,000, very close to that of a Cabinet member. Together with various special subsidies, a lawmaker can make about NT$16 million during a four-year term. Even if the salaries of their assistants were counted in, it would still be difficult to cover their election expenses.
So what do they do? Following an unspoken rule, they hold public hearings, participate in question-and-answer sessions, co-sign draft bills and call meetings with officials, slowly turning legislation into a profit-making business through lobbying and putting pressure on the government. On a tacit understanding, no one says anything, while everyone is waiting to see who will be the first to get caught.
Are election expenses really that high? One should not be so naive as to believe the figures in the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) campaign expense bulletin. Even ignoring the question of whether candidates dare buy votes or whether voters sell their votes, advertising expenses alone are substantial.
One of the reasons Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) did not run for president was that someone on his team estimated that the campaign expenses would reach at least NT$2 billion, and that it would take NT$20 million to simply put up campaign flags in the 319 townships across the nation.
Former CEC chairman Huang Shih-cheng (黃石城) is fully aware of the impact that the huge election expenses are having on the nation. During his term in office, he repeatedly suggested that Taiwan learn from the British parliamentary elections, which limits a candidate’s election expenses to ￡500,000 (US$653,350). Taking into consideration the high average national income in the UK, perhaps the election expenses of Taiwanese candidates should be limited to half the British sum. That would allow able and virtuous people without much money to be elected.
When election expenses are too high, even more noble-minded lawmakers might fall into the bribery trap. That is because the legal definition of political donations is unclear and lawmakers are traditionally expected to lobby on behalf of their voters. The problem must be rooted out at the source to prevent it from happening again.
By saying that those who want power and money should leave the DPP, Tsai was trying to stop the party from bleeding dry. However, she should pay special attention to the fact that when a lawmaker takes a bribe, they ruin not only the party, but also the nation’s administrative, legislative, judicial and social moral values.
The DPP should take advantage of its legislative majority to push for expense limits on legislative, local and presidential elections to speed up the nation’s move toward democratic politics that all Taiwanese can be proud of.
Andrew Huang is a visiting professor at Aalto University in Finland.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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