The nation's top prosecutor yesterday offered to resign to take responsibility for the uproar over probes into vote-buying ahead of recent local elections and the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) scandal.
"I take responsibility for the inefficiency of vote-buying investigations for the Dec. 3 local government elections," the State Public Prosecutor-General Wu Ying-chao (
"People involved in the local government elections and social groups have criticized me for the unfairness of vote-buying investigations since the campaign. I attempted to clear up this matter but failed to quiet the uproar," he added. "I am very sad that even some prosecutors have misunderstood me ... I have decided to offer my resignation to the president and retire."
Criticism
Wu's resignation came yesterday afternoon, shortly after President Chen Shui-bian (
While giving a speech at a ceremony for new investigators who have just concluded their training programs at the Bureau of Investigation, Chen said that the performance of law enforcement officials was still unsatisfactory. Taking the year-end legislative election last year and local elections early this month as examples, the president said that vote-buying remains a serious problem and that it seemed that investigators could do nothing.
"A fairer and more objective performance could strengthen the government's prestige and public trust," Chen said.
Chen encouraged the new force to become self-respecting investigators, hoping that all law enforcement officials will perform better in the future.
"Recently, some prosecutors have violated the gag order, further tarnishing the Bureau of Investigation," Chen said.
Political observers interpreted his remarks as expressing discontent with the role of the so-called "Deep Throat" who allegedly disclosed details regarding the KRTC scandal to the public.
As of press time yesterday, the Presidential Office had not made any statement regarding Wu's resignation. Presidential Office Spokesman Chen Wen-tsung (
Prior to offering his resignation yesterday afternoon, Wu faced criticism over vote-buying investigations as well as criticism from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and legal associations, who called for a more independent legal system and asked the government to recall Wu.
Cover-up charges
Pan-blue lawmakers alleged that Wu had interfered in probes into the KRTC to cover up for high-ranking Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials.
They also alleged that Wu ordered the opening of several court files received from Switzerland related to the Lafayette-class frigate scandal a few days before the election in order to highlight the pan-blue camp's corruption and promote the DPP in the elections.
"Recent controversies surrounding the probes into the KRTC and Lafayette scandals have shown that Wu is not suitable for his job," said Prosecutors Reform Association spokesman Chen Chih-ming (
Wu has been unable to lead prosecutors in a probe of corruption among high-level officials, Chen Chih-ming said, adding that the association welcomed Wu's decision to step down.
Chen Chih-ming said his association opposed Wu's appointment to the post last year because of his involvement in scandals such as the illegal trading of Taiwan Pineapple Corp (
Reform needed
An anti-corruption alliance organized by several NGOs said early this month that an independent prosecution system is the key to fighting high-level corruption. The first step in reforms should be to create a more independent state public prosecutor-general, whose position would be free from any political intervention, the alliance said.
The alliance called for an amendment of the Court Organic Law (法院組織法) to establish a nomination system stipulating that the president's nominee for the nation's top prosecutor should be approved by the legislature.
But while pan-blue lawmakers questioned the timing of Wu's resignation, several pan-green law-makers yesterday lauded Wu for offering to take responsibility.
Additional reporting by Chiu Yu-tzu
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
RSS