Pouring scorn on the Ministry of Justice's decision that any item worth NT$30 or more given by an electoral candidate to a prospective voter would be considered a bribe, DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) yesterday insinuated that Justice Minister Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) lived in outer space.
"I am talking about a single person who has the power to make the final decision, not all the officials from the Ministry of Justice," Wu affirmed, after saying that the decision must have been made by an alien or perhaps a resident of Mars.
The Supreme Court's Prosecutor General's Office under the Ministry of Justice announced on Sept. 25 that any gift worth over NT$30 would be construed as a bribe and prompt an investigation by law enforcement agencies.
Wu said that the standard was utterly unrealistic.
"Even a T-shirt or a baseball cap is worth more than NT$30," he said. "It is too ridiculous if a candidate is to be investigated for giving away a seven-dollar cigarette lighter to the voters. This kind of rule must have been made by an alien, maybe a resident of Mars."
Chen did not respond to Wu's statement.
"Minister Chen said all the regulations were well-formulated and discussed by the prosecutors and judges before they were announced," said Vice Minister of Justice Hsieh Wen-ting (
"We are not looking for trouble," said Hsieh. "Actually, we are trying to solve the problem since lots of people kept asking us for a standard that they could follow to avoid any possible violation."
Some lawmakers said the new standard from the Ministry of Justice could be so restrictive that it will hinder efforts to identify "real vote-buying candidates."
KMT legislator-at-large Lee Cheng-chong (李正宗) said that more "real evidence" is what counts in finding vote-buying candidates.
"The Ministry of Justice is really doing its job. No question about it," said New Party Lawmaker Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大). "But, it is really quite impossible to buy a vote with NT$30. If ... officials cannot adapt to reality, they will waste a lot of time on unnecessary cases instead of real instances of bribery."
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