President Ma Ying-jeou was accompanied by Vice President Wu Den-yih and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) at a press conference held at the Presidential Office Building on the afternoon of September 8 to address the alleged influence peddling by Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) that was revealed by the Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors Office.
The following is a translation of the president's remarks in their entirety:
We are now into the third day since the Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors Office unveiled an influence peddling case in which Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng is alleged to have interfered in the judicial process. After thinking about this issue for the past three days, I have decided to deliver this statement, though it saddens me deeply.
If the Legislative Yuan president lobbied the Minister of Justice and the head of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on behalf of the chief whip of the legislative caucus of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), then this is a most serious infringement on the independence of Taiwan's judiciary. Indeed, it brings us to the most shameful day in the history of democracy and rule of law in Taiwan. If we do not deal with such abuse head on, Taiwan will descend into an endless downward spiral.
On September 7, I urged Legislative Yuan President Wang, who is presently overseas, to speedily return to Taiwan and explain the situation. Mr. Wang called me to explain why he could not immediately return to Taiwan, and to assure that he had not pulled strings to influence a court case, as alleged. He said that he had only offered moral support to the DPP's legislative whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), the defendant in the case, and had asked Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-Fu (曾勇夫) to help with Ker's case. He said this did not constitute influence peddling. But then we must all ask ourselves, if this is not influence peddling, then what is? If a person with power can pull strings to influence the judicial process, how can the general public hope for the judiciary to ensure fairness and justice?
Some say that the culture of influence peddling has existed for a long time. But it is abhorred by the people of Taiwan, and when it involves a court case we need to be especially adamant about defending that line in the sand. There can be no grey area in our opposition to influence peddling in judicial cases. There can be no hesitation or compromise in matters of this nature.
If we don't do the right thing in this case, would it not mean that it's alright for the president of the Legislative Yuan to engage in influence peddling? If the president of the Legislative Yuan can pull strings to influence court cases, then is it also okay if other national legislators, county and city assemblymen, and government officials do likewise?
At this moment, I have a particularly heavy heart. I am fully aware that democracy and the rule of law in Taiwan have reached a crossroads. Taiwan is at a critical point, where it must make a decision about its values. How this case unfolds in the days ahead will have a deep and lasting impact on the future development of Taiwan's democracy.
Do we want the influencing of court cases to be commonplace? Or do we want to curb such behavior? Do we want to watch Taiwan's judiciary "let the powerful off lightly while throwing the book at the powerless?" Or do we want to take advantage of this incident to set a healthy precedent so that everyone in the future knows that we staunchly embrace the values of democracy and the rule of law?
We can't just muddle our way through this. If the president of the Legislative Yuan has obstructed justice through influence peddling, then our democratic system of government has been so marked with shame as to cause the public to lose faith in the nation's judiciary. At this important moment, the people of Taiwan must make a decision. Do we want to be silent and continue to tolerate this type of behavior? Or do we want to stand up and bravely say: "We stand with those who reject a culture of influence peddling in the judicial process."
As president, I cannot shy away from this issue. I must take a stand. And I urge all the people of Taiwan to staunchly defend Taiwan's democracy and rule of law.