Kaohsiung to get new councilors

The Kaohsiung City Council will have to hold a by-election, according to a ruling yesterday by the Taiwan High Court.

The court convicted seven city councilors involved in the 2002 vote-buying scandal in the election of council speaker Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄).

Ten city councilors had been convicted in the scandal prior to yesterday's decision.

"By law, if more than 14 councilors have to leave their posts, a by-election must be held," said Kaohsiung City Council Secretary-General Hsu Lung-sheng (徐隆盛). "The Central Election Commission (CEC) will decide when the by-election will be held."

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said the party will respect the CEC's decision on the date.

According to the Law on Local Government Systems (地方制度法), a by-election must be held if 30 percent of the total number of councilors are dismissed. In Kaohsiung's case, this means 14 out of the 44 councilors.

With 17 councilors dismissed, the legal requirement for a by-election has been met. The by-election will be the largest in Taiwan's history for a municipal government.

Currently, there are no legal guidelines on when the by-election should be held.

Lee said DPP officials in Kaohsiung believe holding the by-election alongside December's legislative elections would save money.

Lee also expressed confidence that the party would gain seats.

Although the DPP will not be able to secure a majority in the city council even if it wins all 17 available positions, the party has formed close ties with independents.

Before the convictions, 14 councilors belonged to the DPP, 12 to the Chinese Nationalist Party, seven to the People First Party and two to the Taiwan Solidarity Union. Nine were independents.

The newly elected council speaker, Tsai Chien-hsin (蔡見興), has expressed an interest in joining the DPP.

Lee said such an arrangement would strengthen the party at the municipal level.

In yesterday's decision, the court ruled on 18 defendants involved in the vote-buying scandal.

Judges decided to uphold a district court verdict that cleared council speaker Tsai and seven other councilors. Sentences for those found guilty ranged from six to 30 months.

Councilor Lee Jung-tsung (李榮宗), who received a one-year sentence by the court yesterday, has also been accused of trying to bribe other councilors on behalf of Chu in addition to accepting bribe money from Chu.