Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (
Hsieh said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) intended to spend NT$470 million (US$15.3 million) and to mobilize at least 200,000 people during the vote.
"This is out-and-out vote-buying in disguised form," Hsieh said. "The country will not have any future if political parties buy their way into the Presidential Office."
Hsieh said the KMT would pay exuberant sums -- estimated at NT$240 million -- to people it would deploy at voting stations.
Voting captains would be handed NT$49 million while mobilization fees were estimated to amount to NT$180 million, he said.
Vote-buying is a legal issue, Hsieh said. Previously, vote-buying was direct distribution of cash, but now it is hidden in various forms and the KMT openly includes it in its campaign plan, he said.
Hsieh urged Taiwanese to reject vote-buying and encouraged them to tipoff the authorities. Those providing information leading to a conviction will receive a reward of NT$15 million.
Hsieh said the KMT should make public exactly how much it intends to spend.
"I would like to know where they're getting the money and how they plan to spend it," he said.
Asked where his party had obtained the information, Hsieh said "righteous people are everywhere."
"We might have overheard it at a coffee shop, but you would not believe me if I told you that," he said. "I can only tell you that there are still voices of justice in this world."
Cheng Wen-tsang (
Cheng described the incident as "the dirtiest of all dirty tricks" and called on the Ministry of Justice and the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office to step in and investigate. The DPP legislative caucus will also file a legal complaint today, he said.
Cheng said they are against vote-buying, "black-gold politics" and violence during the election.
Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓), a Hsieh spokesperson, said only the KMT can afford such expenses because it has party assets to fund the plan.
In response, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
Wu said the party's budget for the election was only one-third of the budget for the 2004 presidential election and that the KMT's bank accounts were transparent.
KMT Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (
KMT Organization and Development Committee director Liao Fung-te (
Liao said the "Blue-Eagle" project is a training program with more than 40,000 volunteers who will be sent by the KMT to supervise vote counting at polling stations to prevent election fraud. Each volunteer will receive NT$1,000.
The "Voting Booth" project asks volunteers to solicit support by telephone before the election, while providing a pick-up service that would take disabled or elderly members to vote, he said.
KEY PERIODS
Party members are urged to cast their votes between 12pm and 1pm or between 3pm and 4pm and examine the situation at the voting booths, as election fraud would most likely occur during those periods, Lee said.
The "Bee" project, meanwhile, asks volunteers in the south to broadcast clarifications by the KMT to counter accusations and rumors spread by unlicensed pro-green radio stations.
Lai said the "Blue Eagle Project" was similar to a DPP program.
Yu Ta-wei (
"Hsieh's allegations are nonsense. Vote-buying means giving voters benefits in order to get their vote. The KMT's `Blue Eagle Project' has nothing to do with vote-buying," Yu said at a press conference.
LEGAL
Chang said providing voters with transportation to voting stations was legal, adding that many DPP legislators also offered transportation during the legislative primaries last year.
In related developments, the KMT established a 24-hour emergency management taskforce yesterday.
KMT deputy secretary-general Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) told a press conference that caucus members would be on duty around the clock ahead of the election.
"The DPP is expected to resort to many election-eve dirty tricks," Hsieh Kuo-liang said, adding that the party had established contacts with major government agencies such as the National Security Bureau in preparation for any election-eve emergencies.
Also yesterday, KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"I've asked all aides and staff not to discuss the post-election personnel issue. Whoever talked about the issue will be asked to leave my team," Ma said yesterday while campaigning in Kaohsiung.
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