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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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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
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