The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said it has delivered a letter to an international federation of liberal political parties to counter “misinformation” contained in a resolution adopted by the organization the previous week.
At a meeting held in Guatemala, the executive committee of Liberal International (LI) passed a resolution, proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), expressing concern over the wiretapping of the switchboard at the Legislative Yuan.
The resolution calls on all Taiwanese parties and leaders to respect judicial independence and the principle of separation of powers.
The DPP is one of LI’s 60 full members.
The KMT’s response was delivered on Thursday to LI headquarters in London by Chen Yi-hsin (陳以信), deputy director of the KMT’s overseas department, the party said.
The letter, addressed to LI president Hans van Baalen, a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands, disputed as “groundless” the claim in the resolution that there was “widespread wiretapping” of legislators in Taiwan, “including the Speaker of Parliament, the Opposition Whip and the Parliament’s central switchboard.”
A task force set up by the Ministry of Justice has found that the wiretapping of the Legislative Yuan’s telephone line was a mistake rather than an attempt to eavesdrop on the legislature, the letter said.
In the letter, the KMT said it supports the call for an independent judiciary and the separation of powers, which is why the party will not tolerate lawmakers who engage in improper lobbying and who interfere with the judicial process.
The KMT government has started a comprehensive review of the laws and regulations concerning wiretapping, as demanded by LI in its resolution, the letter said.
The LI’s executive committee adopted the resolution after the KMT revoked Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) party membership last month over his alleged role in trying to prevent prosecutors appealing a not-guilty verdict handed down to DPP legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
The attempt was revealed by prosecutors from the Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, who based their allegations on wiretaps of Ker’s cellphone as part of their investigation into his possible role in an improper lobbying case.
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