DPP Newsletter Oct2012

7/31/2019 DPP Newsletter Oct2012

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OCTOBER 2012

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DEMOCRACY & PROGRESS

Really, Mr. Ma, its about the economy!

On October 30, the Executive Yuans Directorate-

General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics

(DGBAS) revised down, for the ninth time, the

countrys GDP growth rate. Last August, it was

announced that GDP growth would be 4.58%, and

this time, it was revised down by 1.05%.

DPP Chair Su Tseng-chang said that the current

approval ratings for the president and premier

have gone down to new lows, which is an actualreflection of the peoples dissatisfaction and their

loss of confidence towards the present govern-

ment.

An executive branch that has lost all the peo-

ples confidence is destined to fail, he said. The

DPP has been appealing for a long time to this

administration to change the cabinet and save the

economy in order for the Executive Yuan to have

an opportunity for a restart, but President Ma

Ying-jeou insists on keeping the cabinet as is,

which is why he must explain to the people the

reasoning behind his decision.

The DPP has suggested several reform pack-

ages to the government, all of which have been

opposed by the KMT. After an active investiga-

tion conducted by the DPP, it was discovered that

Taiwans national savings decrease annually by

approximately NT19 billion. This has caused thepublic to question whether the government is un-

fairly allocating its resources. There has also been

an increase on the negative view by the public to-

wards careered military officials and public ser-

vants with the recent controversy surrounding

their annual bonuses.

This kind of bonus system not only shows an

unfairness exerted by the government towards the

rest of the public, but it also created an alarming


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negativity towards the military and civil servants.

The DPP believes that social fairness is the na-

tions most important value, and the government

must ensure that all groups of society are treated

equally.

In regards to the recent controversy surround-

ing the bonuses, the DPP has already issued a

clear standpoint. Due to a lack of legal backing as

well as the lack of fairness in this system, the DPP

clearly and strongly advocates its abolishment.

The DPP plans to set-up a task force that will

review retirement benefits for careered military

officials and civil servants. The task force will

also review the social welfare system and retire-

ment benefits for all people in society. This group

will be comprised of DPP former government of-

ficials, political and social experts from the DPPs

think tank, and it is to be headed by Lin Wan-yi,

the DPPs think tank executive director.

Chair Su Tseng-chang hosted a coordination

meeting on October 22 about the issue of annual

bonuses for retired military and civil servants with

Convener Ker Chien-ming, Director-General Pang

Meng-an and Secretary-General Tsai Chi-chang

from the DPP Legislative Caucus and DPP

Spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien, among others.

During the meeting, it was agreed that the DPP

will take active action and issue institutional re-

forms regarding the annual bonuses with three

specific goals in mind. The first one is to ensure

that no specific group in the community is tar-

geted as having a negative image. Secondly, the

DPP hopes to ensure that no further inequality

from the government arises in welfare protection

for disadvantaged groups compared with the bene-

fits of military and civil servants. Thirdly, the DPP

hopes that no different systems (or different stan-

dards) exist under one government.

From a legal perspective and from the equal

and compassionate points of view, halting and

canceling annual bonuses for retired military and

civil servants comply fully with reform, Mr. Lin

said. It is also reflected in the DPPs latest poll

that the public support and approve the DPP initia-

tive.

According to Mr. Lin, the DPPs latest polls

shows that 79.7% believe the governments annual

bonus for retired military and civil servants is un-

reasonable while only 15.8% believe it is reason-

able.

Mr. Lin said that for the first goal, the DPP be-

lieves in the type of reform that is implemented

with serious consideration over social welfare.

Only when this reform is being put under the total

restructuring of the social

welfare system, will this

reform be justifiable, he

said.

Mr. Lin also ex-

plained that the DPPs

second goal is to ensure

that no further discrimi-

nation is posed against

disadvantaged groups

with the aim of provid-

ing special protection

for them. The retirement

plan in Taiwan has beenmodified over time, and


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OCTOBER 2012

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there are currently various types of retirement

regulations for civil servants. Overall, civil ser-

vants with the current retirement plan was modi-

fied in 1992 (effective since 1995), but the prefer-

ential rate for retired official savings continues to

be incredibly high.

In the third goal, Mr. Lin said that the DPP

hopes to reinforce the regulation of one country

with the same standard system, instead of different

methods of retirement benefits to be carried out by

local governments.

At the Central Executive Committee meeting

on October 24, DPP Chair Su Tseng-chang em-

phasized the DPPs resolution to produce a sound

economic package that will tackle the current inef-

ficiencies from President Mas Administration.

Chair Su said President Ma has not been short

of issuing slogans about the economy, such as 6-3-

3- and the Golden Ten Years, but they have all

failed to produce the desired results, and the pub-

lic is growing more dissatisfied as reflected in his

approval ratings.

Faced with the peoples suffering and the

countrys difficult situation, the DPP must take

action, Chair Su said. We have come up with a

compassionate economic package that will focus

on four major directions: revitalize industry, em-

power local finance, enhance family support and

help the youth.

Chair Su Tseng-chang: DPP continues to

uphold its values concerning cross straitrelations

Chair Su Tseng-chang expressed to the media be-

fore the partys Monday meeting on October 8 that

the DDP has always insisted upon the transparency

of any interaction between Taiwan and China. He

emphasized that the DDP continues to abide by the

principle of maintaining Taiwans sovereignty,

firmly asserting the value of freedom, democracy,peace and equality.

There might be different opinions within the

party, but our values have not changed, Chair Su

said.

When asked by the media regarding the visit to

China by Former Premier and Former DPP Chair

Frank Hsieh, he responded that the DDP continues

to insist that Taiwan holds an active and confidentattitude towards China. By active, he said he meant

that because Taiwan and China are only divided by

water, it is inevitable that both sides must interact.

He said that in order to resolve the existing dif-

ferences, there must be plenty of communication

and dialogue, and this is not only expected by the

majority of the Taiwanese public, but they are alsothe expectations of the international community.

Chair Su also said that on the other hand, confi-

dence is necessary because there are many great

differences between Taiwan and China, as Taiwan

is a democracy, and it is both open and diverse. As

far as what is different in China, he said that China

is still under the leadership of one political party

and a country without democracy or freedom.

Lastly, he asserted, the Taiwan value will defi-nitely become the future trend.


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Liberal International passes resolutionsupporting President Chens medical pa-

role

The 58th Liberal International (LI ) Congress was

held in Abidjan, the capital of Cote dIvoire in Af-

rica. Throughout the congress, participants ex-

pressed concerns regarding the worsening health

condition of Former President Chen Shui-bian and

the growing issues regarding his medical treat-

ment.

Chair Su Tseng-chang assigned Mr. Liu Shih-

chung, director of the Department of International

Affairs and Ms. Maysing Yang, chair of the Peng

Ming-min Foundation, to report the recent situa-

tion of Mr. Chen to the delegates at the LI Con-

gress.

During the congress, a resolution was passed to

call for more prudence in conducting medical

treatments for Former President Chen, and that

authorities should make sure that he is receiving

the best treatment possible.

The resolution released by LI convention is as

follows:

LI expresses concerns over the treatment of

former president Chen Shui-bian which has severe

consequences on his medical welfare and calls on

the authorities to grant him medical parole to en-

sure that he receives the highest level of medical

attention.

Liberal International Chair, Mr. Hans van

Balen, who is also a Member of the European Par-

liament (MEP) and member of the Netherlands

VVD party, showed deep concern and worry after

receiving the news of Mr. Chens melancholia and

other illness symptoms. He expressed desire to be

able to pay a visit to Mr. Chen in Taiwan to show

support from the 100 national political parties

around the world that he represents. LI is an inter-

national alliance of democratic political parties

from more than 100 countries, of which the DPP

is a member.


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DPP hold forum on transitional justice inTaiwan

The DPP held its third series regarding transi-

tional justice as part of the Open Studio policy

forum on October 30. Present at the forum were:

Mr. Michael Hsiao, director of the Institute of So-

ciology at Academia Sinica; Mr. Li Fu-chung, as-

sistant professor of history at National Chengchi

University; Mr. Chen Chun-kai, lecturer in history

at Fujen Catholic University and Mr. Chen Yao-

hua, professor of philosophy at Soochow Univer-sity.

The main issues discussed were former DPP ef-

forts in transitional justice and challenges faced

and the role of political parties in transitional jus-

tice.

Mr. Hsiao started the discussion by citing the dif-

ficulties faced by the DPP in government when it

started promoting transitional justice. These chal-lenges included compensation for victims and the

publication of historical archives, but he said that

a strange phenomenon appeared where there were

many victims, but no perpetrators.

Mr. Hsiao emphasized that in order to carry out

transitional justice, the inevitable part will include

a view of the past authoritarian dictatorship, but it

is not for the reasons of inciting ethnic conflict or

start political retaliation.

Mr. Li referenced the KMTs return to power in

2008, reclaiming the rights to interpret historical

facts. The result, according to Mr. Li, was that the

KMT compromised the concept of transitional

justice and blurred even more past injuries. He

said that, for example, perpetrators have been por-

trayed as carers under the KMT. He suggested that

in the future, if the DPP gains majority in the Leg-

islative Yuan, it must push for a reduction in the

threshold for constitutional amendments in order

for civil society to start fresh.

Mr. Chen analyzed the work performed by the

past DPP government concerning transitional jus-

tice, which he said lacked a systematic approach

and that it was to random, especially only focus-

ing on election-related issues. With the past

authoritarian structure remaining unchanged, hesaid that a return to the old system was unavoid-

able. He suggested that in the future, everyone

must be conscious when engaged in transitional

justice.

At the end of the discussion, Mr. Hsiao issued the

three nos for transitional justice, which are:

1. Transitional justice must not be reduced to shal-

low events such as concerts, forums, movie-watching, etc.

2. Not to be absent-minded when it comes to re-

membering history.

3. Not to shift responsibility away - the DPP must

once again embrace the force of society and

cooperation to engage in reform.


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DPP holds third conference series regard-ing judicial reform in Taiwan

As part of the Open Studio Conference Series, the

DPP held a discussion about judicial reform in

Taiwan on October 23, which has taken place for

the third time at the DPP Headquarters. Mr. Fan

Kuang-chung, former secretary-general of the Ju-

dicial Yuan, was the main speaker of the event.

Other panel participants included legal experts

with wide experience in judicial cases in Taiwan.

They were: DPP Legislative Caucus Convener

Mr. Ker Chien-ming; defense attorneys Mr. KooLi-hsiung and Mr. Cheng Wen-long; judge Mr.

Chen Chin-hsian and prosecutor Mr. Chen Rui-

ren, among others.

The main issues discussed at the panel con-

cerned the circumstance of political interference

in the judicial process, how to implement exit

mechanisms for incompetent judges and prosecu-

tors, and the importance of democratic involve-

ment in the judicial process.

In the opening discussion, Mr. Fan said these

three topics of discussion comprised the funda-

mental direction for judicial reform. He insisted

that judicial reform is critical and essential for na-

tional development and progress.

Mr. Ker, the DPPs legislative caucus convener,

expressed that no one could deny the existence of

political interference in the judicial process inTaiwan, and he stressed that the task involved in

its abolishment is the most critical issues to be

dealt with. He cited the example of the controver-

sial special funds cases, which were particularly

obvious that political interference took place be-

cause the use of special funds has been criminal-

ized, but only DPP politicians has been prose-

cuted. He questioned whether there is really one

set of standards by the prosecutors when it comes

to the use of special funds by government offi-

cials.

Mr. Koo, a defense attorney, discussed the his-

tory of judicial reform since 1999. He said that

reform itself is not just a judicial issue, but also a

political one. He gave the model of Japan, where

the political party in charge is responsible for

promoting judicial reform, leading a trend in Asia,

which he suggested that it is also a model thatTaiwan should follow. Adding further, he stressed

the importance of diversification in judges back-

grounds in order to enhance the mechanisms of

introspection.

Mr. Cheng, also a defense attorney, discussed

the current problems in Taiwans judicial envi-

ronment, especially mentioning the code of con-

duct of judges. He said, for example, the so-called

dinosaur judges is a label that the media and thepublic have given to the types of judges with old-

fashioned views that do not conform to todays

society. He said that this has caused the public to

loose all confidence and trust in the judicial sys-

tem.

Prosecutor Mr. Chen said that the difficulty lies

in the different opinions regarding judicial reform,

which causes a lack of uniformity. He emphasized

that for this reason, the first priority should be toreach a consensus in reforming the judicial sys-

tem. Even though he said that political interfer-

ence in general is rather unlikely, he admitted the

possibility of differences in opinion between

judges and prosecutors, which is why he favors

training and education on conduct. He said that

there exists current public pressure from journal-

ists and media personalities, which is why the fu-

ture of judicial reform lies on how judges must

detach themselves from public pressure.


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Mr. Chen, who is a judge, analyzed the exit

mechanisms for judges, which he said that itshouldnt be based on public opinion but actual

facts and evidence of wrongdoing. He said that

otherwise, there would be too much room for po-

litical interference. He also stressed the impor-

tance of judges and prosecutors to possess the

characteristics of honesty, courage and a sense of

justice, while admitting that the current training

lack the incentives to entitle judge and prosecutors

to stand by these characteristics.

DEMOCRACY &

PROGRESS

PUBLISHED BY:

Department of International

Aff

airs DemocraticProgressive Party

9F, No. 30, Pei-Ping EastRoad, Taipei, Taiwan

Tel: 886-2-2392-9989 ext. 306

Fax: 886-2-2393-0342

Email: [email protected]

Website:

http://www.dpp.org.tw
http://www.dpp.org.tw/http://www.dpp.org.tw/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

DPP Newsletter Oct2012

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