Two Ballots for Legislators Could Also Stop Abuse of Power, Dongchang, and Fat Cats

 Two Ballots for Legislators Could Also Stop Abuse of Power, Dongchang, and Fat Cats

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

January 10, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

In the past four years, the Legislative Yuan, in various legislative actions on bills and amendments, has virtually been reduced to an arena for "only politics, no justice" and "only considering the party’s needs, not people's needs" under the DPP. On the part of the Control Yuan (CY), the "CY members of the Tsai Ing-wen faction" only constitute a little over one-third of the full complement, yet they have forcibly turned the job of august "Imperial Ombudsmen" into "hatchet men for Dongchang" [Dongchang was a Ming Dynasty secret police organization equivalent to the Gestapo.], not only rendering the CY into a political arena for gladiators, but even publicly stating the position of "going after the Blue but not the Green", completely changing the nature of the checks and balances of the highest watchdog body of the government.

On the part of the independent agencies under the Cabinet, the NCC, the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Commission, and the Central Election Commission will also face nominations for their membership in the next two years. If the DPP controls everything, in the future, the possibility of these independent agencies playing the role of "political hatchet men" will inevitably become greater and greater; the so-called "neutrality" or "independence" will become a thing of the past in Taiwan. In the past four years, the DPP has exhausted all means to grasp media outlets. The Mainland Affairs Council has hinted that it would push for the "media edition of the Anti-infiltration Bill"; in the future, it probably will be difficult for the NCC to escape from becoming a tool for the DPP to oppress the media.

On the part of the criminal justice system, in 2022-2023, the Legislative Yuan will exercise its confirmation power over the nominations of the Prosecutor General and four Grand Justices. Under the circumstance that the Special Investigation Unit has been abolished for years, investigations against corrupt ranking officials hinge on the Prosecutor General. With respect to the appointments of the four new Grand Justices, it all the more means that the DPP and Tsai Ing-wen will completely grasp the Constitutional Court. Setting aside for the moment whether the nominees are appropriate from the perspective of checks and balances in a democracy, the DPP at that time will “snatch in its hand the five-power system with independent agencies as affiliates”, thus it could be thoroughly bullying and highhanded, without any oversight or checks and balances.

For legislative elections, there are two ballots, one for "district legislators" and one for "political party". Besides voting for his or her district legislator, the voters may also use the other ballot to rescue Taiwan's democracy, preventing the country from being hijacked by a specific political party. Please remember: The two ballots are not only for electing legislators, smart voters can even use them to stop the abuse of power on the part of the government, prevent the independent agencies from turning into Dongchang, forestalling fat cats securing sinecure jobs and enjoying life, and ensure the checks and balances for the powers-that-be. Please cast your ballots with prudence!

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