Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Clearing up the bugging mess

Taipei Times Editorial

Following the alleged abuse of wiretapping powers by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID), Taiwanese have raised concerns over their constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy in communications.

There have been several irregularities in how the SID applied for and conducted its wiretaps, including seemingly unchecked and arbitrary eavesdropping, and procedural irregularities, such as applying for a court order to wiretap one person while actually investigating another. The person subjected to monitoring should be informed after the investigation is concluded for wiretaps to be compliant with the law.

Prosecutor-general has abused his position

Wu Ching-chin 吳景欽

Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) has revealed further details of his role in the affair concerning alleged improper lobbying by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), saying that he met with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) twice to report on the case. He had no legal basis for reporting directly to Ma, and in so doing, he departed from the impartial and independent stance that the prosecutor-general should maintain.

DPP mulls recall, no-confidence vote

Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party legislators Cheng Li-chiun, left, Chen Chi-mai, center, and Yeh Yi-jin tell a press conference in Taipei yesterday about the party’s plans to issue a recall of President Ma Ying-jeou or overturn the Cabinet.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

Multiple constitutional mechanisms, including a recall of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet, should be enacted simultaneously to hold Ma accountable for infringing the Constitution and staging political persecutions that have destabilized the country, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.

DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said separately that the party would take whatever action is needed within two weeks if Ma does not apologize for his mistakes and step down.

Ma should be held accountable

Taipei Times Editorial

With the beginning of the new legislative session and details of the investigation into the improper lobbying and wiretapping case involving Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) being revealed little by little, the public is finally getting an idea of the full extent of the controversy and the political maneuvers behind it.

Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) appeared to be in trouble when the Presidential Office proclaimed that “anything that went beyond the red line of the judiciary would not be tolerated” — a move that sets up Huang as a scapegoat for the wiretapping and the plotting that attempted to force Wang from his legislator-at-large seat.

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