Campaign hopefuls are giving electoral officials headaches

The candidacies of two hopefuls vying for public office have led to headaches for the Central Election Commission.

The New Party's Wang Chien-hsun says his party, the People First Party, and the KMT have jointly nominated him for Taipei County commissioner.

But according to media reports, the election commission plans to list him as a New Party candidate -- a move that has infuriated Wang.

Under the Public Officials Election and Recall Law, political parties may nominate one member for each open public office.

But the law is unclear as to whether parties may nominate candidates from outside their party.

Wang's case is a first in Taiwan's election history.

On Monday, he accused the election commission of violating his rights.

Wang said he doesn't understand why the commission has categorized him only as the New Party's candidate -- especially since he had turned in nomination papers from all three parties.

The Taipei County branch of the Central Election Commission said it listed Wang as a New Party candidate after the KMT and PFP filed campaign documents saying they considered the politician to be a "spiritual party member."

Huang Shi-chen (黃石城), chairman of the Central Election Commission, said the agency would hold a meeting soon to discuss how to deal with Wang's case.

Huang said there were no regulations governing the matter or any precedent.

In addition, Yang Yin Hsing-wen (楊尹星雯), a legislative candidate from Kaohsiung, says she has been unfairly asked to alter her political views in order to qualify to stand in the Dec. 1 elections.

Yang Yin is the sister of navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓), whose 1992 murder is linked to the Lafayette frigate purchasing scandal.

In addition, her son Yang I-li (楊以禮) was found dead at his home in Canada in 1996, and she believes her son's death was also linked to the purchasing scandal. Canadian officials said Yang's death was accidental.

In addition to her views on education, national security and foreign affairs, Yang Yin in her campaign documents makes several accusations against government officials.

Specifically, she points the finger at Frederick Chien (錢復), former minister of foreign affairs, who she said was involved in the scandal. Yang Yin also suspects Yang Tzu-ching (楊子敬), a retired director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, of covering up information in the case.

But the Kaohsiung branch of the Central Election Commission wants the accusations removed.

Elections officials say the charges violate rules that say a candidate's political views can't be ad hominem attacks.

But Yang Yin yesterday said she wouldn't revise her campaign documents.

The Central Election Commission says it won't reprint Yang Yin's allegations in official election publications and related documents.