Although governmental authorities insist that their recent actions toward independent Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) — including inspecting his tax records and saying it is inappropriate and illegal for Ko’s wife to take part in campaign events — are completely legal and in “accordance with the law,” it is hard for people to not see such moves as being politically motivated.
Following the failure of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien’s (連勝文) purported campaign to discredit Ko by questioning his use of National Taiwan University Hospital bank accounts last month, the National Taxation Bureau of Taipei launched an inspection of Ko’s tax records.
Although the tax authority defended the move as a “routine inspection” resulting from anonymous tips it received about fees Ko was paid for giving speeches, the probe still drew much criticism from the public, with many panning it as politically motivated.
Yet it seemed the KMT government still had not learned its lesson. Over the weekend, Ko’s wife, Chen Pei-chi (陳佩琪), took part in a campaign event while her husband was away in the US. Afterwards, the Taipei City Government immediately said that Chen was in violation of the Public Servant Administrative Neutrality Act (公務人員行政中立法), which prohibits government employees campaigning publicly for a candidate, saying that since Chen is a doctor at a public hospital, she is technically a government employee.
The latest attack renewed public criticism, with many again condemning it as a political tactic.
To quell the rising criticism, Taipei Mayoral Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said that, considering that Chen is Ko’s wife, the city government should not be so strict in passing judgement in this case.
Although all the authorities that launched probes or made accusations against Ko have defended their actions as them following the law, it is difficult not to think that politics are the true motivation.
Certainly, the Pubic Servant Administrative Neutrality Act prohibits government workers from taking part in election events, but it does allow the spouse or immediate family members of a candidate to attend campaign events, though they are banned from “advertising” or “endorsing” a candidate.
So what does constitute “advertising” or “endorsing” a candidate? Did it count as advertising or endorsing when Chen appeared in a crowded market, escorted by Ko’s campaign staff and a city councilor candidate? Is it advertisement or endorsement when Chen says: “Please support my husband”?
The legal aspect of this issue may be complicated and the central or local election authorities usually decide if anyone is in violation of administrative neutrality or the Election and Recall Act for Public Servants (公職人員選舉罷免法). Hence, while the city government accused Chen of acting inappropriately and illegally, it is the one acting inappropriately and illegally, as officials have no right to declare Chen’s actions illegal before the case has been carefully examined and discussed.
In each election, there are dozens of violations of electoral laws, but these are always announced after central or local election commissions conduct case-by-case examinations, which nearly always take place after elections.
Investigations into other matters — such as tax evasion — too, are usually conducted quietly and their results announced only until after the election, unless the evidence is air-tight. It is therefore highly reasonable to suspect that the latest accusation made by the Taipei City Government, the tax evasion investigation and the hospital account claims were all meant to project a negative image of Ko to voters.
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