The Presidential Office yesterday fought back against recent criticism from the media and opposition politicians that the first family abused its privileges, urging critics to display more "humanity," rather than just engaging in political struggles.
"Mrs. Lo [Shih Li-yun (羅施麗雲)], the former housekeeper of the presidential family, did make some mistakes, but we expect the public to focus on discussing whether to ask the Legislative Yuan to draw up a new law regulating the obligations and rights of the first family," Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-TE, TAIPEI TIMES
"Some politicians, including members of both the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] and the opposition alliance, were just interested in expanding the issue without limits," Su said.
He compared these politicians to sharks smelling blood, and said they could not show a basic sense of humanity concerning the feelings and needs of the wheelchair-bound first lady.
"I think that the public will wonder whether they really want to establish a mechanism of justice or just want to humiliate the first family," Su said.
Local media revealed last week that Lo took advantage of a military official assigned to serve as a driver for the first family.
She had him drive her around on personal business, and even ordered him to clean her house, the papers reported. The National Security Bureau has promised to review the entire security mechanism for the first family and vowed to avoid making the same mistakes again.
The Ministry of National Defense also said that it would suspend the security guard, who is a military noncommissioned officer, before conducting an investigation.
President Chen Shui-bian (
The president expressed his gratitude to Lo, saying that she has spent almost 24 hours a day over the past two decades taking care of his wife, Wu Shu-chen (
"Our family owes a great debt of gratitude to Mrs. Lo," Chen said.
However, some papers published stories the following day saying that the driver's family is actually not poor and that his two children don't seem to have any health problems. Some opposition politicians then accused Chen of telling lies.
Su said yesterday that Chen did his best to honestly express his feelings and demonstrate his sincerity about obeying the law.
"Mrs. Lo has resigned and left the first family, and the Presidential Office admitted that it had made mistakes. This should be the end of the matter," Su said.
He asked the public and opposition politicians to compare their treatment of former first families with how they treat Chen's family
DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chuang (李文忠) said that the controversy surrounding Lo was indicative of how opposition politicians would rather indulge in irrational attacks than take part in any constructive discussion.
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