Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) to step down, calling the questioning of Ma, Jiang and Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) by prosecutors over leaking allegations on Thursday night “a shameful page in Taiwan’s history.”
Speaking at a press conference in Taipei, Lu said “the case has become a political mudslide that will eventually destroy the Ma administration. At this point, total reform is needed to save the country.”
Lu was referring to the summoning of Ma and Jiang by the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday evening as a witness in an investigation into the alleged leaking of secrets on the part of Huang, who was accused of violating the law when he briefed Ma in late August on information gathered through wiretapping.
The Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, which reported to Huang, told a press conference on Sept. 6 that from by tapping a phone belonging to Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) it had found that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) lobbied former justice minister Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) and a senior high court prosecutor in late June to prevent legal action against Ker, who had been acquitted in a breach of trust case and was hoping to avoid a retrial.
She yesterday accused Jiang of being arrogant as he has yet to apologize to the Legislative Yuan for his previous comment that he was ready to face a legislature without Wang.
The government is not only arrogant, but is also on the verge of collapse, she said, adding that a serious crisis would occur if the confidence of the people in the government collapses.
Lu called on both the ruling and the opposition parties to support a vote of no confidence against Jiang and called on members of the public to stand united to oust Ma.
Additional reporting by CNA
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