Petty politics scuttle finance committee's vote

The dispute over the legislature's Finance Committee raged on yesterday as members nullified a secret ballot which was held to elect the committee's convener. The ballot was nullified on the basis of procedural flaws.

Independent lawmaker Lo Fu-chu (羅福助), though denying interest in the berth, was believed to have been behind the stalemate.

The committee held a secret ballot at noon to choose a convener, weeks after the legislature nullified the recommendation of Lo's KMT lawmaker son, Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才).

After seeking in vain to secure the position for his son, the elder Lo appeared poised to enter the race himself and reportedly had the backing of several KMT lawmakers, such as Yang Wen-hsin (楊文欣), Lin Ming-I (林明義) and Kao Ting-tsai (郭廷才).

DPP members cast doubt on the legality of Yang's ballot, as he arrived late for the election but then still proceeded to thrust his vote into the ballot box.

KMT lawmaker Lee Shang-ren (李先仁), who presided over the election, suggested that Yang should be penalized for his actions, a proposal that drew vehement protests from Lin and Kao.

The two camps then traded verbal insults but later agreed to hold another election tomorrow.

The KMT and DPP caucuses have struck a deal to jointly boycott the elder Lo in a bid to calm rising public sentiment against potential conflicts of interests.

The elder Lo owns a securities house and admits to being one of the three founders and the "spiritual leader" of the Tiendaomeng, a syndicate of Taiwanese gangs. Lo denies, however, that the organization is involved in criminal activities.