The true meaning of DPP's 'quality guaranteed'

One prominent television spot aired around the country, sponsored by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, depicts various DPP candidates rolling up their sleeves as they scrub, clean and paint an unseen white structure.

After one of the candidates climbs up a ladder and pulls out a weed from the top of the unseen structure, DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen steps up and tips her glasses in a subtle sign of her approval.

As the group steps back, a giant structure is seen bearing the slogan “Green Governance. Quality Guaranteed.”

The DPP candidates and Tsai then warmly hug each other and celebrate as they admire the shining clean edifice.

As far as Taiwan political ads go, the commercial is not particularly unusual or remarkable.

But on Friday, the Taipei District Court handed down a verdict that should remind the public about what kind of “quality” they should really expect from the DPP.

After all, the DPP has yet to even hint of distancing itself from the disgraced and corrupt administration of its own former standard-bearer, ex-President Chen Shui-bian.

The former president, who preceded Tsai as DPP chairperson, and his wife Wu Shu-jen have already both been sentenced to life in prison on September 11 for embezzling state funds and soliciting bribes while in office from 2000 to 2008.

But on Friday, the same Taipei court separately ruled that former first lady Wu had personally instructed then-Interior Minister Yu Cheng-hsien to deliver information to help a construction company win a bid to construct the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei.

Wu was given a kickback amounting to 2.5 percent of the total bid, resulting in her receiving over NT$90 million in cash.

In exchange for this bribe money, Wu instructed the interior minister to turn over the names of members of a government panel reviewing various bids to build the large structure.

After the list of names was secretly handed over to Wu's friend by one of Yu's aides in a hotel room, the construction company contacted the panel members and bribed them.

Not surprisingly, the company won the bid.

This is precisely the kind of “quality” that voters should expect if they cast their votes for the shiny cleaning crew depicted in the DPP's latest commercial. Ever since it was founded in 1986, the DPP has constantly claimed to be the main social force working to clean up corruption in Taiwan.

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