Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged the party's legislative caucus to try to work with its pan-blue allies to form another "truth investigation" committee to assist prosecutors in determining the facts of the March 19, 2004, shooting of the president and vice president.
"Even Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) doesn't accept the investigation report, and has asked for the investigation to be reopened. If we as the opposition don't make any moves, then I don't know what we are doing," Ma said during the KMT's Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday.
"If the investigation reaches no conclusions this time, it will be a great humiliation to the police and the judicial system," he said.
Ma said a great part of the government investigative team's evidence was based on the testimony of family members of Chen Yi-hsiung (
"When the government fails to earn the people's trust, the KMT, as the opposition party, needs to take the responsibility to monitor the it," Ma said.
He urged Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定), the newly appointed public prosecutor general, to show his courage and ensure the whole truth of the case is revealed with a new investigation.
KMT caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (
"President Chen is involved in the shooting case, but he has been indifferent to the investigation. What is he afraid of? We need to find out the truth," KMT Legislator Lai Shyi-bao (
The Council of Grand Justices ruled on Dec. 15, 2004 that the statute and the affiliated "March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Committee" were unconstitutional.
Following the grand justices' interpretation, the KMT caucus proposed an amendment to revise the unconstitutional articles.
According to the legislature's regulations, the amendment has to be dealt with before March 22.
While the KMT holdis 88 seats in the 221-seat legislature, Ma said that it was imperative for it to form a "grand opposition alliance" by working with the People First Party and the Non-partisan Solidarity Union to amend the statute and organize a second investigation committee to probe the shooting.
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