Anti-vote-buying drive gets credit for `clean' election

A sweeping crackdown on vote-buying helped make Saturday's legislative elections the cleanest in Taiwan's history, and the anti-corruption campaign had a strong influence on the poll's outcome, officials and analysts said yesterday.

Wiping out rampant graft was one of the DPP's main pledges when it took over the presidency last year, and Saturday's vote was seen as a test of whether the DPP would stick to its promise.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Justice said nearly 3,000 reports of alleged vote-buying have been collected, compared to 1,200 reports during the 1997 legislative election.

The dramatic increase in reports was a sign that the government's effort to get the word out was effective, David Horng (洪光火宣), divisional head prosecutor in the justice ministry, told reporters.

A total of about NT$10 million (US$290,000) was spent on a catchy publicity campaign, which included numerous television ads. One ad showed a classic technique by vote buyers who give cash to voters and then warn them that the Buddha would know if they didn't vote for the money-giving candidate.

Anti-vote buying activities were held at schools nationwide, and generous rewards were offered to those who helped arrest offenders. Hundreds of prosecutors investigated complaints.

"The increase in reports shows that our propaganda campaign is yielding results," Horng said.

So far, 135 people, including four candidates, have been indicted, and that number could grow as officials finish investigating reports. In 1997, 132 people were indicted, but only 17 were convicted and sentenced.

In the past, many candidates relied on local neighborhood leaders -- called "tiao-a-ka" in Hokkien -- to distribute money to voters. But the aggressive crackdown discouraged many candidates and neighborhood leaders from handing out cash, Horng said.

"Those candidates who have long relied on vote-buying were unable to get elected," Horng said.

Some analysts said the crackdown's impact was evident in the legislative election results.

While the DPP surged from 66 seats to 87, the KMT -- allegedly one of the biggest vote-buyers in past elections -- suffered a serious setback, dropping from 110 seats to 68 in the 225-seat body.

Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), deputy director of the Institute of International Relations in Taipei, said it was clear from the results that some KMT candidates -- especially those in rural areas -- were hard-pressed to buy votes.

"Those who buy votes suffered a big blow," Wu said.

So far, the government has not said which party was named the most in reports of vote buying.

The KMT have argued they run clean campaigns and that the government has unfairly targeted them.

Larry Diamond, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, observed the election and said that graft -- or "black gold" -- was still a serious problem in Taiwanese politics.

But Diamond agreed that significant progress was made during the election in cracking down on vote-buying.

He said that the success and ongoing need for an anti-corruption campaign has made Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) one of the most important Cabinet members.