Taipei district prosecutors yesterday said they would look into whether the public display of ballots during elections for legislative speaker and vice speaker on Friday broke the law.
Prosecutors also said they are gathering evidence of possible vote-buying in the elections.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The DPP legislative caucus, meanwhile, accused the KMT of paying as much as NT$5 million to encourage members of the pan-green camp to cast an invalid ballot.
Caucus members alleged that vote-buying cost DPP lawmaker Hong Chi-chang (
Hong lost 106 to 115 against the KMT's Chiang Ping-kun (
Two rounds were needed because neither candidate managed to win an outright majority in the first round.
Shih Mao-lin (施茂林), head prosecutor at the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office, told prosecutor Lo Jung-chien (羅榮乾) yesterday to lead the investigation.
"We thought it was necessary to launch an immediate investigation into the matter since the situation looked way out of hand," Shih said.
Lo is expected to start the probe today, including asking for videotapes that captured Friday's vote in the legislature.
Although Friday's vote was supposed to be by secret ballot, lawmakers were required to show their ballots during the hotly contested race for vice speaker in an effort to ensure party discipline.
Before the vote, the DPP caucus had passed a resolution that required fellow lawmakers to "display" their votes before placing their ballots into the ballot box.
KMT lawmaker Lin Si-san (
That means prosecutors need to file a written request to be reviewed by a legislative procedural committee and approved by the lawmaking body before any materials are turned over.
Lawmakers found to have publicly displayed their ballots could face up to three years in prison for violating a provision in the Criminal Code that outlaws the leaking of non-national security secrets.
Those found guilty of vote-buying face a fine and up to five years in jail under the Public Officials Election and Recall Law.
DPP lawmaker Tsai Huang-liang (
Freshman DPP lawmaker Julian Kuo (郭正亮) said the secret-ballot system should probably be replaced, as Friday's vote demonstrates.
"When most lawmakers ignore the rules, their action becomes a political one and sends the message that the regulations may not be appropriate," Kuo said.
While internal legislative regulations bar the display of secret ballots, members find ways around the rule.
The KMT and DPP yesterday also traded allegations that the other had attempted to buy votes in the race for vice speaker.
Tsai denied that the DPP had tried to buy votes from independent and KMT lawmakers in exchange for their support for Hong.
"The DPP has never ever tried to buy votes from anybody," Tsai said.
"Do you think that we would have lost the vice speakership race if we indeed had engaged in vote-buying?"
Tsai said he suspected the KMT of vote-buying, accusing the party of offering as much as NT$5 million to lawmakers who intentionally spoiled their ballots, making them invalid.
But Tseng Yung-chuan (
"The KMT has never been involved in vote-buying," Tseng said. "How would we have any extra time or effort to spare when we were busy soliciting votes?"
Meanwhile, the DPP caucus said it was investigating which party member cast an invalid ballot in the second round of the vice speakership race.
"As soon as we find out who that person is, we'll definitely revoke his or her membership," said DPP lawmaker Chou Po-lun (周伯倫), who was Hong's campaign strategist.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique