A-bian’s comeback strategy

After admitting that his family members spirited at least US$20 million in “leftover campaign funds” out of the country, and coming under investigation by prosecutors on suspicion of money laundering, Chen is deliberately working to politicize his dilemma.

If Chen can successfully transform his criminal predicament into a political issue, he may very well succeed in evading criminal punishment. This explains why Chen has been eager to hold news conferences and meet with his diehard supporters. This also explains why the former president has repeatedly tried to equivocate his actions to other political leaders, such as former president Lee Teng-hui and current President Ma Ying-jeou.

Chen should not be allowed to get away with turning his criminal behavior into a political issue to evade punishment. Prosecutors working on Chen’s case, as well as a separate investigation into the alleged embezzlement of government national security funds, should be careful about this, and, if necessary, take action to prevent Chen from using his political influence to escape from the law.

So far, Chen has been successful in mounting what amounts to his latest comeback.

The former president has a long history of coming back from the political wilderness. After winning a seat in the Taipei City Council in the early 1980s, Chen made a failed bid to run for commissioner of his native Tainan County. Chen not only lost the election, but also had to go to prison the following year after losing his appeal of a libel sentence. At the time, Chen’s political career was all but washed up and many observers wrote him off.

But while Chen was serving his prison time, his wife Wu Shu-jen ran for the Legislative Yuan in his place and won a seat. After his release, Chen worked as his wife’s legislative assistant before winning the seat for himself in 1989, launching his career as a nationally known opposition legislator.

After Chen was elected Taipei mayor in 1994, many observers thought he had presidential potential and he frequently made national headlines. But these hopes were dashed when Ma Ying-jeou narrowly defeated Chen in his battle for re-election four years later.

Doomed once again to the political wilderness, Chen staged a miraculous comeback when he captured the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) nomination to run for president in 2000. With the ruling Kuomintang split between supporters of KMT nominee Lien Chan and breakaway maverick James Soong, Chen won the presidency and went on to serve two terms in office.

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