Finance committee elects Lo as one of its conveners

Independent lawmaker and gangster Lo Fu-chu (羅福助) was elected convener of the legislature's powerful Finance Committee yesterday.

Yesterday's elections put to rest a weeks-long dispute as to who would lead the highly influential committee.

Last month, the committee had elected Lo's son, the KMT's Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才), to serve as convener. But the DPP legislative caucus moved to prevent him from taking the position, and the legislature later nullified the results.

Lo Ming-tsai had already served twice and rules barred him from seeking re-election.

In addition to the elder Lo, KMT lawmaker Gary Wang (王令麟), who is under investigation for fraud, and DPP lawmaker Lin Wen-lang (林文郎) were also chosen to be conveners.

Like a poll taken on Monday that failed, yesterday's vote was also mired in controversy.

Of 19 ballots cast, lawmakers raised questions as to the validity of two of them -- triggering hours of debate and insult-trading among the legislators. Eventually, one ballot was thrown out.

Wang and Lin each received five votes, guaranteeing them spots as conveners.

But the remaining eight ballots were split evenly between Lo and KMT lawmaker Lee Shang-ren (李先仁), leaving them tied for the third position as convener.

The pair drew lots -- giving each a 50-50 chance of winning the seat -- and luck favored Lo.

DPP legislators, who had campaigned hard to prevent the gangster lawmaker's election yesterday, said the KMT should shoulder the blame for the result.

The DPP's Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said his party had struck a deal with the KMT to block Lo's election.

The caucuses of the two parties reportedly formulated schemes to ensure that the three convener positions went to the DPP and the KMT.

Tsai said the KMT owed the public an explanation as to why some of its members failed to cooperate.

KMT caucus leader Lee Cheng-chong (李正宗) said the party would investigate and penalize any members who went against the party's wishes to support candidates not favored by the KMT.

Lo owns a securities house and admits to being the "spiritual leader" and one of three founders of the Tiendaomeng, a syndicate of Taiwanese gangs.

Lo, however, denies that his organization is involved in criminal activities.