The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday apologized on behalf of its chairman, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), after he discussed a public opinion poll on the Yilan County commissioner election, but insisted that Ma did not do this to influence the election.
Article 53 of the Election and Recall Act (選舉罷免法) prohibits individuals and political parties from reporting on, publishing, commenting on or quoting the results of opinion polls in the 10 days leading up to an election.
Speaking at the KMT’s Central Standing Committee meeting in Yilan County on Wednesday, Ma quoted a media poll about the outlook for the Yilan County commissioner election. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) later lodged a protest, saying Ma had broken the law.
“Chairman Ma was deeply disturbed [by the matter] and felt it necessary to apologize to the public,” KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) told a press conference yesterday at KMT headquarters.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Ma cited the opinion poll, saying the situation in Yilan was tight and that party members should step up their efforts to campaign for the KMT’s candidate, Lu Kuo-hua (呂國華).
Chan said Ma had been unaware that it was less than 10 days until the election when he addressed the committee on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, Chan said, Ma did not break the law, as he made the comments during a KMT meeting, not at a public event.
Chan said it was up to the Central Election Commission (CEC) to decide whether Ma broke the law.
Ma and the party will respect the commission’s decision, Chan said.
When asked how the CEC would handle the case, commission Secretary-General Teng Tien-yu (鄧天祐) said the CEC had authorized the Yilan Central Election Commission to investigate the incident.
Yilan Election Commission Acting Chairman Chen Yuan-fa (陳源發) told reporters that the commission would send a written request to Ma to present his side of the story.
“We will look at what he has to say before making a decision on whether or how he should be penalized,” Chen said. “But we’re not likely to conclude the probe before the election [next Saturday].”
Several DPP county councilors yesterday staged a demonstration outside the county commission, asking it to launch an investigation immediately.
Meanwhile, the DPP said Ma was setting the worst possible example by violating the Election and Recall Act.
“The president has been quite nonchalant on many issues, including the post-Typhoon Morakot reconstruction effort and the US beef issue. Elections are a very serious matter and we ask the president to be more circumspect and stop setting a bad example,” DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said.
She urged the CEC to penalize Ma in accordance with the law to prevent any “future complications.”
DPP Spokesman Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) made the same plea to the CEC, saying a DPP campaign staffer was fined NT$500,000 for accidentally mentioning a public opinion poll within the 10-day embargo period in last year’s legislative election.
The DPP’s Yilan County candidate, Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢), urged the county election commission to remain impartial.
“It’s common knowledge that no numbers on candidates’ support rates can be released in the 10 days before the election,” Lin told a press conference. “Ma is a legal expert, he should know this very well.”
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