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DPP will not amend rules for Hsieh

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday said party headquarters did not plan to amend its nomination regulations to ensure presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) could stay in the race should he be indicted in any of the cases against him.

"We believe in Hsieh's innocence, but the party also has its own system. Everything follows the party's regulations," Lin said when asked for comment.

Lin was taking reporters' questions because of the recent focus on Hsieh's special mayoral allowance case and a political donation case, in which it is alleged that he received illegal donations from construction companies bidding for Kaohsiung MRT contracts during his term as Kaohsiung mayor.

Hsieh had promised to withdraw from the race if he were indicted in connection with the alleged misuse of his special mayoral allowance.

On Sunday Hsieh said that he would not bet his political career on the political donation case because the prosecutor formerly in charge of the investigation had not been impartial.

The DPP's nomination regulations stipulate that if a member is indicted for receiving illegal benefits, the party's integrity committee would suggest the Central Disciplinary Committee suspend the rights of the member, including the right to run as a party candidate for government office.

Although the investigation into Hsieh's political donation case has not yet been concluded, its impact on his campaign has already become a major issue.

Lin said Hsieh had discussed the allegations against him with the Central Standing Committee and the committee members were confident of his innocence.

"The party deals with similar matters consistently and strictly because the party has very clear regulations," DPP caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) told reporters. "So I think it is highly unlikely the party would amend any regulations for him."

DPP Legislator Wang Shih-cheng (王世堅), who is affiliated with Hsieh's camp, suggested that someone within the party was playing up the issue to sabotage Hsieh and his supporters.

Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) accused Hsieh of manipulating religion to boost his chances in the election.

Tsai said Hsieh had arranged several tours of temples in central and southern Taiwan, during which the participants were given hints by the temples' abbots that Buddha favored Hsieh for president.

The lawmaker, however, presented no evidence to back his claims yesterday, saying only that several borough wardens had told him about the trips.

"People taking the trips visited famous temples, were treated to good food and were told winning lottery numbers. The cost of the trips were as low as NT$200 to NT$300," Tsai said.

Speaking by telephone at Tsai's press conference, borough warden Lin Tien-yi (林添億) said that 80 tour buses had taken borough residents to a temple in Chiayi County.

Tsai said that Hsieh was trying to influence middle-of-the-road voters into voting for him by taking advantage of their religious beliefs.

In Taitung yesterday, Hsieh dismissed the allegation, saying the KMT was trying to spread rumors.

Urging the KMT to provide specifics about the time and locations of the alleged temple tours, he said the KMT's allegations were disrespectful to religion.

"Political leaders should think more about public construction and policy rather than wars of words," Hsieh said in Taitung.

Also see story:
Hsieh seeks `win-win' relationship with PRCA

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