By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday said it would propose a constitutional amendment in the next legislative session to abolish the Control Yuan because of “incompetence.”
Prompted by the Control Yuan’s failure to impeach Keelung Mayor Chang Tong-rong (張通榮), who has been convicted of influence peddling and interfering with police matters when he demanded that a drunk driver be released without charge, TSU Legislator Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) told a press conference that even Control Yuan President Wang Chien-hsien (王建?) said the government watchdog “might as well shut down.”
The TSU has always advocated the “separation of three powers” rather than the five powers — referring to the five branches of government: the Executive Yuan, the Legislative Yuan, the Judicial Yuan, the Control Yuan and the Examination Yuan — based on the Republic of China Constitution, the lawmaker said.
“Since the government is struggling with its finances and the Control Yuan, which costs taxpayers more than NT$700 million [US$23.3 million] every year, has been malfunctioning, it is time to transfer the rights of audit, investigation and impeachment to the Legislative Yuan and public servants’ property declaration to the Agency Against Corruption under the Ministry of Justice,” Hsu said.
TSU Legislator Yeh Chin-ling (葉津鈴) agreed, saying that the nomination of Control Yuan members has become the president’s personal tool to reward politicians.
At a separate press conference, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus also voiced support for the proposal.
The Control Yuan has not lived up to its mission as a watchdog, DPP legislators Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) and Pasuya Yao (姚文智) said, adding that impeachment cases accounted for only 3.98 percent of all cases it had handled over the past six years, with each impeachment case costing taxpayers an average of NT$22.5 million.
“Impeachment is one of the most important functions of the Control Yuan, but it has apparently not done its job,” Chen said.