The Control Yuan yesterday voted to impeach Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) for failing to attend city council meetings, but it remains unclear what disciplinary measures he might face.
The Control Yuan, the branch of government charged with investigating and censuring improper behavior by civil servants and public officials, voted 7-2 to impeach Lai for “gross negligence” for not fulfilling his duty to attend question-and-answer sessions at the council.
Lai’s case is to be turned over to the Judicial Yuan’s Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Public Functionaries to decide whether to discipline the mayor. The harshest punishment he could receive would be to have his post revoked.
Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times
Lai, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has said he would not attend any of the city council’s meetings until vote-buying allegations against Tainan City Council Speaker Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have been resolved by the courts.
Lee won the election for council speaker on Dec. 25 last year after defeating then-speaker Lai Mei-hui (賴美惠) of the DPP by a 29-26 margin, even though the KMT held only 16 seats in the 57-member council, compared with 29 for the DPP.
Lee was indicted on vote-buying charges in early April, but was released on NT$15 million (US$472,798) bail by the Tainan District Court.
Lai said that the impeachment was unacceptable, accusing the Control Yuan of being “selective” in pursuing the case amid others, such as the disaster at the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里) and the Ministry of Education’s secretive curriculum adjustment process.
Lai reiterated his determination to oppose “black gold” politics, adding that he would not attend any of the city council meetings until Lee’s case is settled.
Lee said he would not celebrate Lai’s impeachment and that he hopes relations between the city government and the city council would soon get back to normal.
The DPP Tainan City Council caucus accused the Control Yuan of making a “political judgement aimed at shifting the public’s attention away from the curriculum controversy.”
The KMT Tainan City Council caucus said it found the Control Yuan’s decision “comforting” in that “justice is being served.”
Additional reporting by Hung Jui-chin
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