Prosecutors said yesterday that their anti-vote-buying efforts will be carried through, with particular attention focused on candidates who intend to pay off their vote captains and supporters after Saturday's election.
"Although the anti-vote-buying taskforce will be disbanded, the efforts to fight against vote-buying are not over yet," said Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), a deputy chief prosecutor.
Prosecutors said that in the past candidates would ensure the effectiveness of their vote-buying by giving vote captains who are responsible for securing votes a percentage of a promised fee prior to the election.
"Candidates would then give vote captains the rest of the reward after they won the election," said David Horng (洪光火宣), head prosecutor of the Ministry of Justice.
To combat vote-buying, the Ministry of Justice used to provide rewards to citizens who reported vote-buying infractions within 10 days of an election.
A revised regulation stipulates that a reward could be granted to informers within the tenure of the office for which a candidate runs -- if the vote-buyer is convicted.
"This year we were able to have four legislative candidates indicted before the election due to probes that began early on. This would have never happened in the past," said Horng.
He said that preparations for cracking down on vote-buying began last September with inter-agency efforts.
"For example, the Ministry of Finance kept close watch on financial institutions that were suspected of appropriating funds for vote-buying."
The four indicted candidates are the DPP's Hsu Chih-ming (
Among them, only Hsu won a post in Saturday's polls.
Horng revealed that it is very likely that more candidates, rather than just their vote captains, would be indicted.
Vote captains frequently insist on concealing the names of the candidates they are working for. In order to counter this, prosecutors are now "educating" vote captains during investigations by telling them that they could be spared conviction if they reveal the identity of the candidate employing them.
Official determination to wipe out vote-buying in the first legislative poll after the DPP won the presidency last year is greater than ever.
The most recent figures on suspected and indicted cases involving bribery are to be released today, the ministry said.
Figures released last Friday showed that 2,672 possible bribery cases involving 2,920 suspected cases of vote-buying were under investigation, among which 31 cases and 139 suspects involved were indicted.
As for county commissioner and mayoral elections, eight of the 813 suspected vote-buying cases were under investigation. Fourteen of the 592 suspects were indicted.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS