Liberty Times: How do you view the role of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division played [in the investigation of the Yu Chang case], reports that the Bureau of Investigation has been monitoring candidates’ movements and allegations that the government has been violating administrative neutrality?
Wellington Koo (顧立雄): Taiwan has gone from a period of Martial Law and authoritarianism to democracy.
The characteristic [of the transition] is that it began under former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) under the authoritarian rule of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Lee led the KMT toward democracy.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Some have called it a “Quiet Revolution,” but during the process of the transition there remains parts of the KMT that have not yet been able to completely make the transition.
The good part [of the transition] is that there was no bloodshed, but the bad part is that the will and direction of [Lee’s] reform were not completed because of certain obstacles.
There are still many aspects that have not changed, such as the intelligence system maintaining its original staff and judges in the judiciary system left over from the authoritarian era.
The changes that were made were because of the will of the man in power and some parts [of the system] that infringed on human rights, such as the Taiwan Garrison Command and monitoring of the media, were abolished. However, the basic framework that balances the separation of the power of the state, [namely] the independence of the judiciary, the embrace of human rights by the judiciary, the neutrality of administrative organizations and avoiding pandering to the government, is not enough.
Just from looking at the elections, the KMT’s immense party assets, extant under Lee and now President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), obviously means that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is at a disadvantage. At the same time, this “milk” [party assets] provides [the nutrients] for certain civil servants, spread throughout the government, to grow. This direct relationship is a violation of administrative neutrality.
If this were not the case, it [the party assets issue] would have been resolved, as everyone would then think about finding a new power base [and not be reliant on the assets.]
However, currently everything is still tied to [the assets], which pose an obstacle to thorough reforms and the ghost of authoritarian rule is therefore still haunting us.
The accomplishment of the Lee era is the flourishing of the power of the private sector, but the government has not followed the thriving private sector by making thorough reforms, so it needed the transfer of power in 2008 to further deepen [the reforms.]
That is the great value of the transfer of power — from a historical perspective, to make a bloodless and orderly transition between political parties is a good thing.
In 2000, the public voted for former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), hoping that he would complete the much needed tasks.
However, looking back at the eight years of the Chen administration, in terms of the hope that it would deepen democratic reforms, strengthen administrative neutrality, allow the judiciary system to gain the trust of the people, maintain the discretion of the prosecution system and perform a “healthy” rebalancing of governmental powers, its performance was frankly disappointing.
Chen might argue that his party did not hold a majority in the Legislative Yuan and that he was powerless to push through many reforms, but he still had many occasions when he had the power to act, but there seemed to be a lack of strong ideals and central values to allow him to walk the path [of reform] without fear.
When Chen was embroiled in judicial cases, the largest harm done was that the value created by the transfer of power was diminished overnight, with far-reaching implications.
In 2008, the DPP suffered a total defeat and the KMT’s candidate, Ma, came to power.
[However,] the [political identity] Ma embraces is still basically China. If Taiwanese [politics] did not have Chinese elements, Ma would be forced to propose more attractive scenarios for his policies on national administration.
However, as the election draws closer, he is unable to proclaim his political achievements on reform and he can only say people should vote for him because he has calmed tensions with China by using the “1992 consensus” and he has facilitated the passage of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
This shows Beijing no longer has to rattle swords to intimidate Taiwan, because via the “soft threats” of the Ma administration it is influencing the voting inclination of Taiwanese.
Without these Chinese elements, Ma would have had to do his best to implement all of the aforementioned [acts of reform,] giving him no place to hide [from his responsibility.] Without the Chinese element, Ma would have to tell us what the second transfer of power brought Taiwan; has it brought the essence of authoritarianism? Or has it brought violation of administrative neutrality and control over the prosecution system?
Now, [with the Chinese elements involved,] Ma seems to be able to sidestep these questions with ease.
LT: You convened and established the Human Rights Lawyer Group to oversee the elections. What are your future plans?
Koo: We recently held a press conference to declare that we would take legal action if there is any interference in the elections.
[We believe] prior to the election that some of the illegality will decrease slightly, but that the main [period] will be after the election.
For example, the incident involving [Chinese envoy] Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) has brought attention to the fact that, in essence, the KMT is authoritarian and it is willing to go to certain lengths for certain people.
The case provided more impetus for the public to take legal action against the police officers involved. The fact that they all answered the summons and that they were criticized by various different judges was another form of education. I think it taught them to tone down their actions.
After the elections there should also be a discussion about whether to abolish the Bureau of Investigation.
History shows us that the bureau was a tool controlled by the KMT, serving almost the same functions as the former Taiwan Garrison Command.
After democracy was ushered in, the bureau’s role changed and it became the primary organization investigating corruption, but now that job is filled by the Anti-Corruption Administration, the bureau’s sole job now is to gather intelligence on political parties.
[The question] is, is that information being used for any other purpose other than national security?
We need to exert some effort to show that the intelligence agencies cannot control elections, because it is in violation of democratic principles, trying to influence elections with the decision of the few infringing on the rights of the populace as a whole.
We think we’re making choices in elections, but in fact we’re not, because it’s a few people who are deciding how the elections go, especially when the elections are at critical moments.
That’s not democracy. We need to be aware of our rights, we can’t let anyone monitor us and invade our privacy.
LT: The results of the previous two transfers of power were not ideal. How would you view the necessity of a third transfer of power?
Koo: Maintaining a strong opposition party is necessary no matter what, and that is also one important reason why the DPP had to get back on its feet. If the DPP had been unable to recover [from the blow it suffered in 2008], then it would be difficult to anticipate any reform. It is a very key thing to maintain a check on the balance of power and that is the reason why one should always support the weaker side.
However, I am worried whether the DPP would be able to make political reforms after the Chen era. Of course, we cannot entertain the wishful thinking that the DPP would conduct reforms, therefore if the DPP comes into power, we should also oversee what the DPP does.
We should not be stingy with our criticism when the DPP departs from the direction we hope they will go; the transfer of power does not equate with a bolstering [of democracy], but the act of alternation itself must become a viable option.
From another angle, if Ma were to succeed in his bid to be re-elected for a second term, then reform could slow to a snail’s pace.
Overall, the future of Taiwan still depends, from time to time, on the brave choices of Taiwanese.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
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