An upcoming demonstration organized by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to protest what it calls “unfairness and a miscarriage of justice” is seeking to destroy Taiwan’s judiciary system and provide cover for corrupt politicians, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
TPP Acting Chairman and Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) on Friday last week announced the party would protest in Taipei on Saturday to “demand judicial justice from the government” and to show solidarity with the party’s former chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
Ko, indicted on Dec. 26 on charges of bribery and corruption in connection with a real-estate deal during his second term as Taipei mayor from 2018 to 2022, was detained again during his third bail hearing on Thursday last week.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Friday wrote on social media that he would “give his full support” to those expressing their discontent with the DPP on Saturday.
DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) at a news conference yesterday said the planned protest “is for opposition parties to shield corrupt officials and undermine judicial independence.”
“Numerous core figures and politicians of the KMT and the TPP have been implicated in corruption and bribery. The majority of such cases resulted in a conviction and prison terms,” Wu said. “They should reflect on them and examine serious corruption within their parties, but instead they are mobilizing to attack the justice system.”
The two parties are working together to justify their corruption, he said.
The protest aims to deter the judiciary, prevent it from investigating corruption and personal profiteering by KMT and TPP politicians, Wu said.
New Taipei City Councilor Cho Kuan-ting (卓冠廷) of the DPP referred to recent corruption cases including Hsinchu County Commissioner Yang Wen-ke (楊文科), Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙), Taipei city councilors Angela Ying (應曉薇) and Chen Chung-wen (陳重文), and former Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安).
“They [the KMT and the TPP] want to conceal the real corruption from public eyes,” Cho said. “This protest is a big joke.”
Additional reporting by CNA
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