Former President Chen Shui-bian wrote Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen yesterday, demanding equal justice for all public officeholders charged with misusing government subsidies for elections, like him.

Chen is under investigation in connection with laundering part of the cash contributions from the government for the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

The government pays NT$30 as subsidy to candidates per vote they collect. Chen has been accused of remitting millions of dollars abroad for deposits in foreign banks, including Credit Suisse, as the fund for founding a republic of Taiwan.

In a private letter to Tsai, Chen pointed out he respects the decision the DPP clean government commission took on last Thursday on his involvement in the snow-balling money laundering scandal but demanded that the same decision apply to all public office holders of the opposition party.

That private letter was made public by Chen’s office and his spokesman said the ex-president wants the party from which he had resigned to “treat all others equally to ensure the equality of justice.”

Thursday’s decision requires the opposition party to “expel” President Chen, if he were convicted at the first trial.

There’s a difference between “resignation” and “expulsion.” It takes only two years for a DPP member who resigns to apply for reinstatement. One who is expelled has to wait for four years.

Chen believes the decision was intended to make it impossible for him to stand for president in 2012 as the DPP standard-bearer. In a desperate attempt to get out of the current stew, he is campaigning for president less than four years from now.

On August 24, the news broke that Credit Suisse had found deposits remitted from Taipei via a couple of foreign banks. Money laundering was suspected.

He admitted on the same day he had money remitted but blamed his wife for its transfer. He also apologized to the public and resigned from the party. His wife followed suit.

However, Chen complained in the letter, the clean government commission made an investigation and then took the decision which he hinted was unfair to him.

“All members (public officeholders) are equal before the clean government commission,” the letter claimed. “There shouldn’t be a ‘selective trial,’ nor discriminatory treatment, so that the Democratic Progressive Party may keep its clean image before the public,” it pointed out.

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