From Monday’s Taipei Times:
At a separate setting yesterday, KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) urged party members not to be too excited about the party’s victory in the elections and pledged that the party would not abuse its power as the dominant party in the legislature.
"`Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ The KMT should remember this saying. If we are too arrogant with victory, we will lose the presidential election," Ma said yesterday while visiting the mausoleum of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (
蔣經國) in Taoyuan County.
Oh, he does talk the talk, don’t he? In the immortal words of Ma Ying-jeou – or was it the Amazing Spiderman? – with great power comes great responsibility. And yet, it was barely a day after the KMT’s lop-sided legislative victory that members of the party faithful began contemplating a grab for ever more power:
[Chiang Min-chin, a pro-KMT scholar suggested that the Chinese Nationalist Party] should amend the constitution to impose a proper system of checks and balances on [Taiwanese] presidential powers…
Not too surprising that a party with a two-thirds majority in the legislature would want to castrate the presidency. But what of the legislature? Any plans to impose a proper system of checks and balances on THEMSELVES?
Nah, we won’t be doin’ that.