Responding to recent developments concerning former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), members of several civic groups yesterday called for the passage of “sunshine bills” to combat corruption by public officials.
Participants at a colloquium sponsored by Taiwan Thinktank unanimously agreed that corruption by senior officials and public functionaries could be rooted out only by changing the governing systems, such as enactment of “sunshine bills” that would oblige senior officials and civil servants to account for their private assets.
At the colloquium, Hung Yu-hung (洪裕宏), convener of the Constitution Reform Alliance, called for the legislature to enact a law at the next legislative session that would make it a crime for government officials to hold unaccounted-for wealth.
“Under current circumstances, there will be no solid evidence to adequately prove that the huge amount of money that Chen’s wife wired overseas were the gains of corruption committed by Chen during his tenures as president and Taipei mayor,” Hung said.
“In the current legal environment, there is no way to charge Chen with corruption,” he said, adding that the scandal would at best only affect public opinion of Chen’s morals.
Hung suggested the legislature enact a law that would make it a crime for government officials to hold unexplained wealth.
The law should be retroactive — allowing all senior officials, sitting or retired, to be scrutinized in terms of possession of private assets, he said.
“If that law is put into force, Chen would unavoidably be found guilty and many figures from the Democratic Progressive Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] could be indicted,” Hung said.
“Half of the politicians in the country would be downed by the law — consequently ushering in a new, clean and competent government,” he said.
Ku Chung-hua (顧忠華), chairman of Citizen Congress Watch, urged the KMT-dominated legislature to pass the bill as soon as possible so that all government officials and public officials could be scrutinized by the same rules and criteria.
Meanwhile, Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), an executive director at Taiwan Thinktank, urged the public yesterday to take part in a demonstration being organized by the pro-independence Taiwan Society and other activists groups next Saturday.
Hsu called for the public to join the rally, saying that the march — aimed at championing people’s power in overseeing the government — is neither pro-Chen nor anti-Chen.
Chen, his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) and Wu’s elder brother Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂) were listed earlier this week as suspects in an alleged overseas money laundering case and have been barred from leaving the country.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said yesterday that she would participate in the demonstration.
“It is inappropriate for the public to label the demonstration as a pro-Chen Shui-bian event,” she said.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
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