Tue, Apr 02, 2002 page3

• NSB spat brings lawmaking to standstill

  OVERSIGHT The firestorm brought on by the NSB secret-accounts scandal has brought vital business in the legislature to a halt

  • By Wu Pei-shih and Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTERS
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  Since the disclosure of secret National Security Bureau (NSB) accounts two weeks ago, legislative bickering between "pan greens" and "pan blues" has dominated the chamber, sidelining issues of vital importance, analysts said yesterday

  Scheduled to listen to reports on last year's classified NSB budget, the Budget and Final Accounts Committee meeting was paralyzed by squabbling between ruling and opposition parties over whether the head of the NSB should be questioned.

  After leaks to the media about the secret accounts and the alleged misuse of NSB funds, the budget committee changed its agenda last week and resolved to invite Presidential Secretary-General Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟), National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), NSB Director Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明), the Control Yuan's Auditor-General Su Cheng-ping (蘇振平) and the Director General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Lin Chuan (林全) to offer reports and be questioned at the meeting.

  

  DPP legislator Lee Wen-chung and another lawmaker occupy the podium in protest during an argument at yesterday's meeting of the legislature's Budget and Final Accounts Committee over whether the National Security Council secretary-general and NSB director should appear to answer questions from lawmakers.

  PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

  Before the meeting commenced, the atmosphere became tense after lawmakers learned that Chen and Chiou had failed to show.

  After it turned out that only Lin Chuan and NSB Deputy Director Huang Lai (黃磊) would appear, chaos and finger-pointing descended on the meeting, with both camps issuing top-mobilization orders to try and outnumber the other.

  The brouhaha in the meeting sidelined reports prepared by the Control Yuan's auditors, in which the ministry admitted that, at the present time, it has little practical or legal right to review the NSB's budget and hence, has not done so.

  This is because the NSB's budget, also known as the "Ding Yuan (定遠) project," is part of the Ministry of National Defense budget, the contents of which are classified.

  According to Control Yuan sources, a deal has been reached with the defense ministry concerning the review of the NSB's budget -- but such a review could only take place when the budget was declassified. But since there have been no related regulations governing the budget's declassification, Control Yuan auditors remain unable to do so.

  The report suggests that in the future, the Cabinet should clearly divide budget items into "public" and "classified" sections when preparing intelligence budgets.

  "Necessary measures should include regulations for listing the different degrees of classified documents and a fixed number of years in which to disclose them," the report said.

  "The government must also enhance internal controls for all intelligence institutions."

  The report therefore stresses that the legislature should also formulate related laws or acts to protect the confidential information of the country and build up a proper mechanism for supervision.

  "There is no appropriate law or regulation to introduce standard procedures for us to supervise classified NSB budgets," an official of the audit ministry said privately.

  "Only when the Legislative Yuan passes a law to regulate the timing of classified subjects of the intelligence system can we prevent corruption or another scandal like the recent NSB scandal."
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