Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) yesterday withdrew his appointment of ex-wife Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚) as deputy commissioner and said he may remarry her after the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) declared their divorce invalid and the appointment illegal.
Fu, who ran for county commissioner as an independent candidate after being ousted from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), appointed Hsu as his deputy on Sunday after his inauguration.
The MOI initially said Fu may have violated Article 7 of the Public Officials Conflict of Interest Prevention Act (公職人員利益衝突迴避法), which bans public officials from using their power to benefit themselves, their spouses or other family members living under the same roof.
In response, Fu said the appointment was valid because he was divorced on Friday.
But the MOI then said that Fu could still be in violation of the law if he and Hsu still live under the same roof.
At a meeting with representatives from several government agencies on Tuesday, the MOI found “new evidence” and finally declared the divorce invalid and the appointment thus illegal.
“They were divorced on Friday the 18th, which was two days before [Fu’s] inauguration,” Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said yesterday. “Yet [Hsu] did not move her household registration out of [Fu’s] house until Monday or Tuesday after we reminded them about the clause against living under the same roof.”
“This shows that this couple got divorced not because they couldn’t live together anymore like most other couples who get divorced, but only to avoid violating the law against conflict of interests for public officials. We could call it a fake [divorce],” Jiang said.
The ministry also said that although Hsu moved her household registration, she moved it to Fu’s mother’s house — right next door.
After the MOI made the final decision, Fu canceled the appointment of his ex-wife as deputy county commissioner, and said he may remarry her.
Fu said the MOI’s decision was confusing because his household registration record now says he is divorced.
He said he would decide whether to remarry Hsu in a few days. Hsu, meanwhile, said she was enjoying being single again and wouldn’t mind staying single a little longer.
“Whether I agree to marry Fu again will depend on his wisdom — but I won’t be as foolish as I was before,” Hsu said.
Although Fu canceled the appointment, the Control Yuan said it would launch a probe into whether Fu violated the conflict of interest law.
KMT caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) yesterday supported the ministry’s decision.
“It was right of the interior ministry to make an immediate decision on this matter because similar cases have to be prevented,” Lu told a press conference.
“Fu’s appointment drew widespread criticism from the public. Although the appointment was legal, it was flawed,” Lu said.
“He shouldn’t have appointed his wife as deputy commissioner because that would turn [the county government] into a family business,” Lu said.
Meanwhile, KMT Spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) rebutted Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) allegations that Fu’s appointment reflected KMT culture in eastern Taiwan.
The DPP was alluding to former Taitung commissioner Wu Chun-li (吳俊立), who was elected in 2005 but whose term of office was suspended after the High Court found him guilty of vote-buying.
After the High Court ruling, Wu and his wife Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞) divorced and the latter won his spot in the by-election called to replace him.
Lee said yesterday that the KMT had neither nominated Wu nor Fu.
Kuang’s election and Fu appointing his ex-wife were two different matters, Lee said.
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