Premier Frank Hsieh (
"It would be my fault and I'm willing to take responsibility if the court rules that the construction project should be regulated by the Government Procurement Act (
"However, it would have nothing to do with me if the problem turns out to be due to internal problems of shareholders and the bidding process of sub-contractors," he said.
PHOTO: LEE YING, TAIPEI TIMES
He made the remarks in response to questions filed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Lee Chuang-chiao (李全教) and Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟) yesterday.
They asked Hsieh when he would consider stepping down and called on him to take a lengthy period of leave while prosecutors delve into the case.
They also asked why the German firm Siemens put only NT$500 million (US$14.97 million) into the project when it had originally promised to invest NT$1 billion.
Hseih called on the public and public figures to exercise rationality, especially with the Dec. 3 elections drawing near.
He condemned intimidation and pledged to find out who was responsible for vandalizing KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu's (
"We encourage the public to provide leads and will make the utmost effort to find out who should be held accountable and mete out punishment accordingly," he said.
Hung's service center in Yonghe (永和), Taipei County, was painted with the characters biaozi (bitch, 婊子). The center has also received several obscene or threatening telephone calls.
It is believed that the incidents are linked to clashes between Hung and Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Pasuya Yao (
Hung called Yao a pizi (ruffian,
Standing by her remarks, Hung said yesterday that she hopes the police handle her case as fast as they did with the arrest of Tu Shi-san (杜十三).
Tu, a poet whose real name is Huang Jen-ho (黃人和), made a threatening telephone call in which in threatened to kill all of Hsieh's family. He was arrested less than 24 hours after he made the call.
Hsieh also urged law enforcement officers to continue their investigation of the Thai workers' riot in Kaohsiung in August.
"Law enforcement officers should show their determination to fight all kinds of illegal deals. If they only focus on the biggest issues, it will be difficult to persuade the public that our law enforcement officers are not just investigating specific cases," he said.
The premier said that in the past law enforcement officials have sometimes begun by probing one scandal only to end up investigating a related case.
"This is not good. Once they decide to launch their investigation on a case, they should figure out all the details before they close it," Hsieh said.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
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