President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is facing sharp criticism for his decision to appoint Chou Chih-jung (周志榮) as the first head of the Agency Against Corruption (AAC), an independent anti-corruption body established on Thursday.
Critics say Chou, a prosecutor, is actively involved in politics and is unfit to lead an agency aimed at deterring civil servants, including public officials, from engaging in corrupt activities.
Chou was widely rumored to have been involved in leaking to the press information about a probe into campaign contributions given to then-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) during the 2008 presidential election, in a move that critics say may have affected the election outcome.
The allegations against Hsieh later turned out to be unfounded.
“His motive for doing this was clear,” DPP lawyer Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said at a press conference yesterday. “We are concerned that a prosecutor so heavily involved in political activities would turn the new agency into a political tool.”
There has also been dissatisfaction with the appointment of Yang Shih-chin (楊石金), the former head of Taipei City’s Department of Ethics, as deputy head of the AAC.
Yang was involved in the Taipei International Flora Expo scandal last year, when local DPP councilors accused organizers and the city government of overpaying contractors by as much as 30 times market prices. The scandal saw prosecutors raid the municipal government building and arrest one official.
Prosecutors had voiced public concerns at that time that the ethics department was covering up for other civic officials connected to the controversy.
“I don’t think anybody at the time could have imagined that Yang would instead be promoted to deputy head of the AAC,” Chou said, adding that the former director-general also had a dismal record in processing public complaints.
Information compiled by the DPP shows that 481 public complaints had been given to the Taipei City Ethics Department since February 2007, but only nine were pursued in court, leading to a “efficiency rate of only 1.8 percent,” DPP spokesperson Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said.
Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) yesterday said the allegations so far have not been found to be true. Chen welcomed Hsu to provide the ministry with whatever information he has.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY YANG KUO-WEN
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
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DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
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