Fri, Mar 14, 2008 page8

• EDITORIAL: Lawmakers behaving badly

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  Less than a week after the arrogance of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators was exposed for all to see as they put partisanship and self-interest above the well-being of the nation by blocking sunshine bills and busting a deal with the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union, the public on Wednesday was again offered a shocking example of how a political party's comfortable control of a two-thirds majority in the Legislative Yuan is slowly boosting the self-importance of its lawmakers.

  Accusing the state-run First Commercial Bank of waiving the lease on Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign office in Taipei, KMT caucus whip Alex Fai (費鴻泰) barged into the office late on Wednesday afternoon with fellow KMT legislators Chen Chieh (陳杰), Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) and Luo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾).

  The lawmakers ignored a security guard's query and went straight to the campaign office on the 13th floor, sparking verbal and physical clashes with DPP supporters.

  Although police were called in to maintain order and did remove the lawmakers for trespassing on private property, they nevertheless did not apprehend them according to Article 306 of the Criminal Code (刑法), which stipulates that it is illegal to break into private households, vehicles and ocean-going vessels without authorization. Instead, police from Zhongshan Precinct limited themselves to politely escorting the lawmakers out of the building.

  In contrast, DPP supporters, who were trying to prevent the lawmakers from fleeing the "crime scene," were manhandled by the police.

  Granted, lawmakers have a right to conduct inspections in accordance with the Law Governing Legislators' Exercise of Power (立法委員職權行使法), but they should be carried out according to due process and not by ignoring legal protocol. Since when do lawmakers have the power of prosecutors to investigate people and private property? If this arrogance persists, how long will it be before people are woken in the middle of night by legislators barging in without a warrant?

  The presidential election is less than 10 days away. What were these four lawmakers thinking? With feelings running high in both camps, even a fool should know better than to step on opposition territory with such aggression.

  Aware of the potential damage from the incident, KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) -- after initial remarks condemning the violence and calling on both sides to exercise self-restraint -- offered his regrets and apologized twice on Wednesday night after learning that KMT lawmakers had provoked the incident.

  Meanwhile, on the day of the incident, there were allegations in a magazine that KMT Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) possessed dual citizenship while serving as an elected official. Although Lee said she had long given up her US citizenship, she declined to specify when and how, leaving doubts as to whether she, during her decades in public office, has violated Article 20 of the Nationality Law (國籍法), which stipulates that foreign citizens are prohibited from holding government posts.

  Lawmakers are elected to work for the common good of the people. It seems that certain lawmakers more often than not are troublemakers themselves, however, and have a hard time abiding by the laws they themselves brought into being.
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