Friday, March 21, 2014

(Meanwhile) Ma Ying-jeou takes another beating

The fallout from the MaWangMess continues. First, State Prosector Huang, who leaked the information to President Ma Ying-jeou that Speaker Wang Jin-pyng had allegedly conspired with the justice minister and prosecutors to get a DPP legislator off has been sentenced to 14 months....
State Prosecutor-General Huang Shyh-ming was sentenced to one year and two months in prison Friday for leaking classified information related to an ongoing investigation to President Ma Ying-jeou.

Huang has said he would resign if found guilty. His four-year term is due to end on April 18.

The Taipei District Court allowed the senior prosecutor to commute his sentence to a fine of NT$420,000 (US$13,721).
This is judicial confirmation that Huang committed in an illegal act. Does that mean Ma Ying-jeou did too?

The second thing that has happened is Speaker of the Legislature Wang Jin-pyng. The KMT lost its case yesterday and Wang was allowed to keep his KMT membership, meaning that President Ma, whose obsessive attack on Wang delayed passage of the Services Pact and split his party, has lost on all fronts. Speaker Wang serenely refused to clear the legislature of students today, and his stock has risen. In fact, at the moment, he's looking pretty damn presidential.... Wang in 2016? He's a wily player and fixer, and closely connected to the Old Guard of the KMT, yet also the informal leader of the Taiwanese KMT legislators from the south and center of the island... Wang said today:

As to the meeting originally set for 11 a.m., which he told Ma Friday morning he would not attend, Wang said that it is "not appropriate" for the head of the Legislature to attend the administration's meeting under the stipulations of the Constitution.

In a three-point statement, Wang said Ma's use of Article 44 of the Constitution to call for the meeting was not valid, as the article in question governs "disputes between two or more Yuans (branches)" of the five-branch government.

The current situation, however, is not a dispute between the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan, but one between ruling and opposition lawmakers over the service trade pact, he said.

.......

Between two calls from the president, Kuomintang (KMT) Vice Chairman and former Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Yuan Tseng Yung-chuan was also instructed to call Wang, according to the speaker's statement.

As the speaker of the Legislature, Wang said he will continue to take every possible avenue of communication and mediation while taking stock of the view of all involved parties. He said he will call for consultations among the different legislative caucuses "when necessary."

As Ma serves as chairman of the KMT, Wang said it is incumbent on him to promote dialogue between ruling and opposition parties to solve the impasse and restore order.
Wang is putting everything on Ma.... the pro-China WantChinaTimes says Wang excoriates Ma.

But any way you slice this, the President has taken a savage beating over his attack on Wang and over the Services Pact.
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1 comment:

les said...

Why is it that not even Nextv are mentioning any of the items in the pact? I'm seeing talk of Chinese being able to immigrate here with a family of three for an investment of a mere NT$6m! That's ridiculous. If this is true and was widely known there would be millions of Taiwanese out in front of the legislature protesting.