Justice minister defends NT$30 giveaway limit

Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) went on the defensive yesterday to refute criticism of his plan to go after politicians who give away campaign tokens worth more than NT$30.

The justice ministry plans to investigate any politician who gives away campaign paraphernalia worth more than NT$30 -- saying such gifts could constitute vote buying.

But some politicians have objected to the proposal, saying it would criminalize common campaign materials such as caps for supporters while doing little to combat the real problem of vote buying.

DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) on Thursday intimated that Chen must be from Mars if he thought the proposal was reasonable.

Chen yesterday said the proposal was useful because it sets a clear standard as to what constitutes vote buying.

"This new standard actually helps prosecutors focus on real bribery cases," Chen said. "We're actually trying to make the prosecutors' job easier. In the past, different prosecutors in different districts had different standards for bribery."

Chen noted a 1983 case in Ilan, in which prosecutors investigated a legislative candidate for handing out NT$15 Chinese lunar calendars.

"This kind of case will not bother anyone from now on," he said. "Some people have said prosecutors might overlook real bribery cases. On the contrary, they will not, because they have a rule to follow now."

The justice ministry also said the new rule had the support of several lawmakers.

A few weeks ago, Chen met with the People First Party's Diane Lee (李慶安) and Chou His-wei (周錫瑋), the New Party's Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), the KMT's Hsu Shu-bo (許舒博) and the DPP's Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) to discuss the matter.

Some of the legislators supported a NT$50 cap, while others said NT$30 would be reasonable and still others proposed a ceiling of NT$10.

"However, most of them agreed with either NT$50 or NT$30," Chen said.

Diane Lee, during yesterday's legislative session, called on politicians and voters to support the justice ministry instead of questioning the strictness of the rule.

"According to my own experiences and estimates, to win a legislative seat a candidate will need to spend at least NT$3 million for about 100,000 giveaways if the candidate follows the new NT$30 rule," Lee said. "I think the new rule is very down-to-earth and reasonable."

According to the Public Officials Election and Recall Law, a candidate needs at least 30,000 votes to win a legislative seat.