"It is impossible to free the legislature from the influence of money interests and organized crime, as long as Lo remains a member of the assembly," Kuo said.
"These five tigers are clean. There is nothing that can be used as evidence against us. We will block Lo's bid and eradicate that evil cat," Shen said.
"It will not be that easy to prevent me from winning a legislative seat," said Lo, who has yet to formally declare his candidacy. "The so-called five tigers may prove to be five bluffing dogs."
Kuo said if Lo succeeded in his re-election bid, it could create significant problems for the DPP government.
"If Lo could get elected through some unscrupulous means in the Taipei City south constituency, which has the most sophisticated electorate in all of Taiwan, that will pose a crucial test for Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
The five DPP politicians said something had to be done to free the legislature from the control of the "vicious minority power," calling for quick passage of a legislative reform package put forth by the DPP caucus.
According to the proposal, a group must consist of at least 12 lawmakers in order to form a legislative caucus.
Every legislative caucus has the right to send representatives to inter-party negotiations, where most deals are done. A caucus may be formed by as few as five lawmakers.
For example the National Non-party League, led by Lo, is a group consisting of six lawmakers.
In yet another measure included in the DPP reform package, each legislative committee would be entitled to select one convener only, compared with the current three.
As three openings are available in each committee, a lawmaker may currently become a convener with the support of just a small minority of colleagues.
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