Lawbreakers can serve as lawmakers

Lawbreakers are qualified to serve as lawmakers while their appeals wind their way through the court system, the chairman of the Central Election Commission said yesterday.

Roughly 34,000 Taichung County voters on Saturday elected to the legislature independent Yen Ching-piao (顏清標), who was sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier this year on graft and attempted murder charges.

But according to Huang Shi-cheng (黃石城), head of the commission, that's not enough to keep Yen from carrying out his duties.

Yen and an incumbent lawmaker remain qualified to serve in the lawmaking body while their appeals are being processed, he said.

"From our point of view, they are future legislators who were elected by voters," Huang said. "Their victories in the campaign are valid and have nothing to do with their criminal cases."

Huang said the commission would issue certificates of election to the lawbreaking legislators-elect, "no question about it."

But Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) said he doubted whether the convicted criminals would be permitted to take their oaths of office.

"We would absolutely respect the fact that they were elected through a democratic process," Chen said. "However, according to the law, a newly elected legislator must take the oath of office on Feb. 1 in the Legislative Yuan with at least one grand justice present."

That may complicated matters for Yen, who remains locked up.

"I'm quite sure that they will receive their certificates of election from the Central Election Commission," Chen said. "But if they fail to take the oath in front of the grand justices, they will not be able to carry out their jobs as legislators, I'm afraid."

Yen's attorney, Chang Ching-tsung (張慶宗), said he would continue applying for bail for Yen.

"If the Supreme Court approves our bail request, there won't be any problem for him to take the oath in the Legislative Yuan with other newly elected lawmakers on Feb. 1," Chang said.

"But if the Supreme Court declines our request again, we'll ask for the approval of a majority of legislators to allow Yen to take the oath in prison. Or, we'll apply for a guard from the prison to escort Yen to the Legislative Yuan."

Even if those plans fail, the lawyer said, Yen, by law, would be allowed to take his oath of office at any time during his three-year term as lawmaker.

Yen, a notorious gangster as well as an influential politician, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Aug. 31 for graft and attempted murder. The Taichung District Court also found him guilty of illegal possession of firearms and obstruction of justice.

Investigators arrested Yen on Feb. 27 and he has been in detention since. The Taichung branch of the Taiwan High Court denied a second appeal for bail on Nov. 6. Yen has applied for a third appeal to the Supreme Court.

He is the first elected lawmaker to run a campaign from behind bars.

The other convicted candidate is the DPP's Chou Po-lun (周伯倫), an incumbent who won 26,709 votes in Taipei County's first district.

The Taiwan High Court on Aug. 3 gave Chou a six-year prison term for his involvement in the Ronghsing Park development scandal, first exposed in 1988 by Chen Sheng-hung (陳勝宏), who was then a Taipei City councilor.

Though he said he would give up filing appeals, Chou on Aug. 25 lodged another appeal with the Supreme Court.