In a landmark ruling that is expected to have wide political ramifications, the Taiwan High Court handed down a “not guilty” verdict to 10 then-New Taipei City councilors who “flashed ballots” to show observers their votes in the city council’s 2010 speaker election.
The ruling upheld the decision by the New Taipei City District Court in May last year, which found the 10 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors, including Lee Wan-yu (李婉鈺) and Sheng Fa-hui (沈發惠), who were charged with disclosure of state secrets and related offenses arising from the case, not guilty.
Yesterday’s ruling is seen by senior DPP officials and some civic groups as a positive development, as they have long advocated for changes to institute “recorded voting,” or “roll call voting,” instead of the current “secret ballots” in local councils.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
They see “recorded voting” as a better political reform measure to counter potential bribery and vote-buying, and to monitor councilors who vote against the majority of their constituents’ wishes.
The High Court ruling states that city and county council speakers and deputy speakers have job functions that entail important political and administrative policies, and previous court decisions cited Article 132 of the Criminal Code, which covers public officials’ disclosure of documents or information of a secret nature on matters outside of national defense.
In this decision, the judges said that in the case of the election of speaker and deputy speaker by councilors, the voting and balloting process in itself is not concerned with national political and administrative policies, and as such, the “ballot flashing” was not in violation of Article 132, and therefore the councilors were found not guilty.
The decision is final and cannot be appealed.
Following the High Court’s decision, Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Prosecutor-General Yen Ta-ho (顏大和) cited the different rulings between the 2010 council speaker election in Greater Kaohsiung and the then-Taichung City election in 1994.
Yen said he would make an “extraordinary appeal” to the Supreme Court on the not-guilty ruling in the “ballot flashing” case of Greater Kaohsiung councilors in the 2010 council speaker election, because he noted the court found Taichung City councilors guilty in a similar situation in 1994.
DPP spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) and legal counsel Wellington Koo (顧立雄) urged the judiciary to focus on bribery and vote-buying in local council elections, and to not waste resources going after councilors who cast the ballots.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique