Mon, Apr 16, 2001 page3

• Professors make list of legislature's `troublemakers'

  UNLUCKY 13 A group of university professors published a list of 13 legislators they say are performing poorly and who are creating strife within the legislature

  • By Joyce Huang / STAFF REPORTER
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  The Taiwan Association of University Professors (台教會) has come up with a list of 13 "troublemakers" in the Legislative Yuan who "trigger political turmoil in the legislature."

  The group yesterday also urged the public not to support the 13 lawmakers in the year-end legislative elections.

  "They are so notorious for their words and deeds that they should be disqualified as legislators," Shane Lee (李憲榮), a member of the association, said at a press conference held yesterday. Lee is a professor of law and politics at Chang-jung University (長榮大學).

  Lee said some legislators were put on the list for their involvement with gangster syndicates and money politics.

  Others on the list include former scholars or judges who have nonetheless performed miserably in the legislature, Lee said.

  The 13 legislators include the New Party's Elmer Fung (馮滬祥) and Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大); the KMT's Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), Chen Ching-pao (陳清寶), Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進), Mu Ming-chu (穆閔珠) and Wu Ko-ching (吳克清); the DPP's Liang Mu-yung (梁牧養); the People First Party's Hsieh Chang-chieh (謝章捷), Chou His-wei (周錫瑋) and Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠); and independent legislators Liao Hsueh-kuang (廖學廣) and Lo Fu-chu (羅福助).

  Fung, who was on top of the list, sarcastically said yesterday that he felt "honored to be criticized by hardline Taiwan Independence activists."

  Fung was ranked by the group as the most abominable legislator of the 13.

  Professors from the association yesterday said that Fung had inappropriately grilled the president's aide Ma Yong-cheng (馬永成), proposed cutting the presidential office's budget, protested the selling of the Japanese comic book On Taiwan (台灣論) and echoed China's protests by lashing out at former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) plan to visit Japan.

  Chen, the legislator from the KMT, counter-attacked the association's move, saying "they should be disqualified as university professors since they have made inexplicable accusations without any reasonable evidence."

  Chen, Lee Chia-chin and Hsieh Chang-chieh were singled out yesterday by the association for questioning Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) in the legislature with harsh words.

  Ting was named because he had initiated the recall vote against the president, while the association said Mu and Wu had insulted Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗), and Liao and Chou had embarrassed the premier.

  The association said that it would continue monitoring legislators' performance and would later come up with a list of more names, if necessary.

  "If the public can boycott these poorly performing legislators' participation in politics, it may help the functioning of the legislature," said professor of history at National Taiwan University (NTU), Cheng Ching-jen (鄭欽仁), who is also a national policy adviser to the president, at the same press conference.

  But another association member, Li Yung-chih (李永熾), who is also professor of history at NTU, yesterday cautioned the media not to assist these legislators in stirring up legislative infighting.

  Li urged the media to refuse to report some news events staged by certain legislators who to try to excuse themselves from wrongdoing.
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