Citing a string of corruption cases that implicated high-ranking government officials in the wake of the riot by Thai laborers in Kaohsiung last August, Ma stressed the importance of the four sunshine laws for cleaner government and improved social order.

Four sunshine laws

The four sunshine laws the KMT would like to see passed are a political party bill, a lobbying bill, amendments to the Public Functionary Assets Disclosure Law, and amendments to the Political Donations Law.

The main focus of the proposed political party bill, Ma said, included applying the Public Service Election and Recall Law to the elections of party officials, prohibiting political parties from setting up organizations in any government agency or the military, prohibiting the president from heading a political party, and prohibiting political parties from running or investing in profitable businesses.

With regard to the lobbying bill, Ma said that certain procedures, such as registration for lobbying, would have to be followed to ensure an open system. The new law, Ma added, would help prevent conflicts of interest and crack down on improper transfers of benefits.

Citing first lady Wu Shu-chen's (吳淑珍) failure to declare her jewelry as an example, Ma said the new amendments to the Public Functionary Assets Disclosure Law would allow for tighter monitoring of public servants' property to deter graft and corruption.

Finally, the proposed amendments to the Political Donation Law are aimed at ridding the system of loopholes in existing laws, Ma concluded.

He stressed that these bills were nonpartisan, and that he would seek multiparty support to push for their passage for the long lasting good of Taiwan, adding that a cleaner government and society needs both political determination and a sound system to be achieved.

Singapore 'under control'

Using Singapore as an example, Ma said when he was there, he was greatly impressed by what a Singaporean official had to say - "Singapore is one of the few countries in the world where corruption is under control."

"There are only about 40 to 50 cases of corruption in Singapore every year, and for a country that's very few," Ma said, hinting that he would like to see Taiwan headed in the same direction.