The decision by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus to oppose President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) nominee for state public prosecutor-general was an unexpected move, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday.
"The policy coordination department said that the caucus would hold an open vote on the nomination, but [the caucus] later opposed it. I am surprised [by the decision]," Ma said yesterday morning after presiding over a municipal meeting at Taipei City Hall.
Ma met with executive director of the department Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) on Sunday night to discuss the party's stance and asked the party caucus to hold an open vote on the issue in an attempt to prevent any delay of the nomination. The party caucus, however, decided during the caucus meeting that it would cast blank votes for the nomination.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The president's nominee Hsieh Wen-ding (謝文定) failed to receive the endorsement of half of the legislators present yesterday and the nomination was therefore rejected.
Ma said that he had expressed his surprise at the decision to the caucus, adding that the exercising of consent should focus on a review of the respective nominee's qualifications, rather than his political affiliation.
"The KMT is the largest opposition party, therefore all of our decisions and policies should be made with a measure of responsibility, take into account public opinion and using reason," he said.
"We respect the decision because it was made by the majority. But I hope [the caucus] takes a rational and responsible attitude during the decision-making process," he added.
KMT spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文) denied there were divisuions within the party regarding the nomination.
"The party respects the decision of the caucus. We did not take a different view to that of the caucus," she said yesterday.
People First Party spokesman Hsieh Kung-pin (謝公秉) also said his party respected the decision of the caucus.
KMT Legislator Chen Chieh (陳杰) didn't cast his ballot yesterday, saying that he felt the decision by the KMT caucus to cast blank votes was "unbelievable."
KMT Legislator Shyu Jong-shyong (徐中雄), while obeying the caucus' order to vote against Hsieh, said the KMT had been swayed by PFP hardliners who had recently joined the KMT.
A PFP legislator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the PFP decided to boycott Hsieh because of pressure from protesters.
Meanwhile, representatives from civil groups promoting judicial reform criticized the pan-blue camp for rejecting Hsieh based merely on their political affiliations.
"We had observed how legislators reviewed Hsieh in the committee, where it seemed that [pan-blue legislators] didn't have too many complaints about Hsieh. We don't understand why they have suddenly changed their position," said Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠), the executive-general of the Judicial Reform Foundation.
Chen Chih-ming (陳鋕銘), president of the Prosecutors Reform Foundation, said that political manipulation of the vote would damage judicial independence.
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