As the political heat continues to rise in the run-up to the Nov. 6 county commissioner's by-election race in Yunlin, high-ranking officials from the National Police Administration (NPA) descended on the county yesterday.
They vowed to prevent any outbreaks of violence or vote-buying, and declared their intentions to guarantee a safe and clean election.
The move by police officials came after an investigation by Yunlin County police into car accidents that victims said were deliberate, as well as skirmishes between rival groups, all of which are suspected of having connections to the by-election.
PHOTO: LIAO SHU-LIN, LIBERTY TIMES
Yu Yue-tang (
"We will shut all violence out of the Yunlin County by-election. We will monitor the entire process and, if necessary, clamp down on criminal organizations -- no matter whether they are local factions or from other places," Yu said.
He said that police would arrest anyone suspected of violating laws and regulations under the three-year-old "Chiping" anti-hooligan laws (
The legislation is used to take aim at public servants and other figures allegedly connected with organized crime, and allows authorities to circumvent normal legal bureaucracy and even issue harsher sentences than regular criminal law allows.
An official from the MOI said yesterday that over 2,000 police officers would be sent to Yunlin County to maintain public security during the event.
Deputy director-general of the NPA, Wang Chun (
Several DPP lawmakers, meanwhile, said yesterday that many gangsters from other parts of Taiwan had already arrived in Yunlin County and that a "particular candidate" was ready to pay bribes for those who voted for him.
"The KMT is now bringing in these gangsters to Yunlin County, and is trying to control local voters in a bid to win the election," said Ho Chia-jung (
Lin Kung-hua (林國華), a DPP lawmaker who is also a Yunlin County native, said yesterday he has already learned which candidate planned to buy votes and has reportedly been behind incidents of violence.
"If judicial officials do not know where those criminals are, I would be glad to lead such officials to them to make arrests," Lin said.
In addition to violence, the central government is also watching out for cases of vote-buying, according to officials. Justice minister Yeh Chin-fong (
"There have been rumors such as that a particular candidate has begun to pay NT$ 500 each to voters already. But we do not have any evidence at the moment to prove it," said Tseng Yung-fu (
Candidates, for their part, continued yesterday to accuse each other of instigating violence and plan to hold large campaign rallies tomorrow.
President and KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) is to be accompanied by Premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) to rally support for their party's candidate, Chang Chung-hsiung (張正雄), tomorrow morning. DPP heavyweights, including presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (
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