Citizen Ma on trial
Former KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) began his trial for embezzlement and forgery on April 3. As a man known for his “teflon” political persona when it comes to scandals, Ma pledged to resign from the chairmanship of the KMT if he were to be indicted, and did as promised when he was. Ma is often touted by the media as the frontrunner for the 2008 presidential race and the KMT’s best chance of regaining the presidency since the DPP was voted in in 2000. The day he was indicted, Ma officially declared his candidacy for the presidency. While the indictment has been an obstacle in his bid for the presidency, it has come as a blessing in disguise — Ma’s popularity ratings, sagging after the “Depose Chen” movement, regained momentum, as his supporters believe that Ma is a victim and scapegoat of a flawed legal and political system; however, if Ma is convicted of corruption, he will be barred from the presidential race.
Sure, the remittance of public funds into his personal account may be sketchy and morally wrong, but according to Republic of China law, it’s perfectly legal. It is a common practice by some 6,500 current and former politicians to put public money into their own coffers and claim it as salary. While I do not think that Ma is morally untainted, the mere idea that the former KMT chairman and frontrunner for the presidential race should be made an example of, while delaying corruption investigations of the other presidential heavyweight candidates, who just happen to be DPP members, smacks of political bias. If Ma is to be convicted and thrown in jail, so should everyone else who has ever remitted public funds – including Premiers Su and Hsieh and DPP chairman Yu. Either everyone should be penalized or no one at all.
What does Ma’s case mean when compared to President Chen’s corruption scandal? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’ve never favored ousting President Chen because of potential corruption, but I have favored ousting Chen because of his unpopularity. In my mind, whether Chen and/or Ma are corrupt is completely irrelevant — they are politicians after all, not saints. But I will say this: I do think that Ma has a lot more backbone for actually showing up to the court hearings that First Lady Wu Shu-chen has been evading by exaggerating her condition and using it as an excuse.
But will Ma be convicted? Former Tainan Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) (DPP) was indicted on similar charges but was acquitted. Any student of law would know that what matters in legal decisions is precedent. With the Hsu case and three other acquittals of similar cases as precedent, Ma should be cleared. If not, only convicting Ma while letting the DPP presidental contenders go scott free would be a gross miscarriage of justice. With the extreme political polarization and bias in Taiwan, the final outcome is unknowable. But for the future of the KMT and the Republic of China on Taiwan, I hope that the court system will take precedent into consideration and judge accordingly.
