Ma to respect Yilan fineFirst, hats off to the President for coming clean and respecting the decision of the Yilan County Election Commission and accepting the fine of NT$500,000. Then it gets all gets a bit strange because Ma the President will not pay anything. Turns out Ma the KMT Chairman was the one censured and fined and in Taiwanese politics that makes a big difference. You see, since Ma was acting at the time as Chairman, the President made no mistake and it won't be against HIS record. Another thing that strikes me as odd is the emphasis put on Ma using his own money to pay the fine ... one might ask 'Why wouldn't he?'. Was there a suggestion that the KMT party would pay for it, one that Ma the Chairman was keen to rebut? This is speculation of course but what is not is Ma describing his own actions as 'negligent'. More cynical commentators have suggested that the slip of the tongue was less negligent and more strategic but hey ho Ma, the Chairman, has been duly punished and apolo ... no wait ... KMT Spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) apologised on his behalf. I'm guessing the party wouldn't want the public to see Ma the Chairman apologise for illegal electioneering tactics and get him confused with Ma the President, that wouldn't be good for his 2012 re-election campaign which I'm assuming will kick off right after ECFA has been signed next year if it hasn't already started (actually right after being elected and unable to even come close to achieving the outlandish election promises on the economy, Ma essentially said that his manifesto pledges were made not with 4 years in mind but with 8 so I guess the re-election campaign has long been up and running.) One wonders if Ma is turning out to be a WMD for Taiwan's economic security and sovereignty ... talking of WMD, Steve Bell of the Guardian had this wonderful toon up on the paper's site:
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he would respect an Yilan County Election Commission decision to fine him NT$500,000 for citing opinion polls within 10 days of the weekend’s local elections, and would pay the fine with his own money, the party said yesterday. “Chairman Ma said it was his personal negligence, and he should take full responsibility for it,” KMT Spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) said yesterday at KMT headquarters. Ma cited an opinion poll when addressing the KMT Central Standing Committee meeting in Yilan County on Nov. 25 as indicating that the race in Yilan would be tight and party members should step up campaign efforts. Article 53 of the Election and Recall Act (選舉罷免法) prohibits individuals and political parties from reporting, publishing, commenting on or quoting the results of opinion polls in the 10 days before an election.
Britain went into Iraq unprepared for aftermath, Chilcot inquiry toldThe Blair government was reluctant to sign up to the US body responsible for postwar planning for fear of being 'liable under international law'.
