Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Chang Sho-wen (張碩文), whose involvement in a vote-buying case — a civil case brought by Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) — is still under court review, said yesterday he would not participate in today’s plenary session as the Legislative Yuan deals with a proposed amendment to the Election and Recall Law for Public Servants (公職人員選舉罷免法).
Chang said he would not participate in any vote on the proposal given Yunlin District Court’s nullification of his election victory in a first trial on Nov. 28.
The verdict was not final. Chang has appealed.
Chang’s father, Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元), is out on bail in a separate criminal vote-buying case brought by Yunlin County prosecutors.
The proposal by KMT Legislator Lin Tsang-min (林滄敏) seeks to allow election annulment cases to go through three trials rather than two as stipulated in the law, before a court reaches a final verdict.
Lin said the law is inadequate and should be amended.
The proposal has drawn criticism from the DPP as five pan-blue lawmakers — the KMT’s Chang, Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井), Chiang Lien-fu (江連福) and Lee E-tin (李乙廷) and the People First Party’s Lin Cheng-er (林正二) — have been involved in annulment cases.
The proposal has been included in today’s plenary agenda, but it may not be discussed as Chang said yesterday that the party’s Central Policy Committee had reservations about the bill.
The Taichung branch of the Taiwan High Court on Wednesday annulled Lee’s election victory in the second trial, making him the first incumbent lawmaker to lose his seat as a result of a lawsuit.
Lee yesterday maintained his innocence, saying he did not understand why the high court could annul his victory on vote-buying charges in a civil suit while finding him not guilty in a criminal suit.
Lee rebutted a court ruling that his NT$2,000 donation to a temple constituted vote-buying, saying that making religious donations was a common practice in Taiwan.
KMT caucus deputy secretary Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) voiced support for Lin’s proposal, saying that Lee’s case highlighted the flaws in the law.
“This is an unjust regulation. [The DPP] should not be so sure of itself,” Lu said.
“We have already had a victim [of that regulation]. Everyone should stop and think whether the regulation is fair,” Liao said.
Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the office would respect the KMT legislative caucus’ final decision on the matter.
DPP lawmakers said yesterday they would veto the proposal to amend the law.
“We will fight to the end to veto it,” DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) told a press conference at the DPP legislative caucus office yesterday morning.
Chiu said the move would help bring back “black gold” politics.
Chiu made public the phone numbers of the Presidential Office, KMT headquarters and the KMT legislative caucus and encouraged the public to call and complain.
Echoing Chiu, DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said she was worried that the DPP’s efforts would be unsuccessful unless the public participated in the protest.
“We only occupy 27 seats. If [the KMT] does not change its mind, we will not be able to stop it,” she said.
Central Election Commission Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) said yesterday that revising rules on election irregularity lawsuits could encourage vote-buying.
“If an election irregularity case has to be taken to the Supreme Court, it means that a legislator’s term could well end before the legal process is finished,” Chang said. “In such a case, whoever gets elected through illegal means — such as vote-buying, threatening voters or having phantom voters — would have nothing to worry about.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING AND LOA LOK-SIN
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS