Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian reaffirmed his commitment Wednesday to creating a corruption- and money influence-free political environment.
Addressing a graduation ceremony for a Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) staff training class, Chen said his administration will do its utmost to wipe out "black gold" politics, which refers to shady links between the government, organized crime and business groups.
As the first step, Chen said his administration is determined to make all-out efforts to stamp out vote-buying in the upcoming grassroots elections for township chiefs as well as city and county councils.
Noting that Taiwan is facing tough challenges and bottlenecks in the process of its political democratization and economic transformation, Chen said black gold politics has to some extent undermined Taiwan's political and economic achievements.
Chen recalled that in his inaugural speech in 2000, he made eradication of "black gold" and establishment of clean politics as one of his administration's top goals.
Since his inauguration, Chen said the Ministry of Justice has set up an anti-black gold action center and a special investigation task force to fight against official corruption, organized crime, financial irregularities and moneyed influence in politics.
Chen said he is impressed by these two new groups' approach of "active probes, immediate action and teamwork" in their anti-black gold crusade. "Thanks to the concerted and devoted efforts of all law enforcement officers, the anti-black gold campaign has achieved satisfactory results," Chen said, referring to a record number of vote-buying cases busted in the run-up to last December's elections for legislators, city mayors and county magistrates.
Chen encouraged all MJIB staff members to uphold lawfulness and legal procedures in criminal investigations, abide by disciplinary rules, expand their vision and professional expertise, and cherish team spirit.