Print

Mail

wiki links

Kaohsiung contest turns litigious

Former president Lee Teng-hui, center, shakes hands with supporters while campaigning for Wu Ying-ming, second left, a TSU candidate for Kaohsiung City council yesterday. PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

As Saturday's elections approach, Kaohsiung mayoral candidates are busy putting their spin on the latest poll results and visiting the local prosecutors' office to file lawsuits against their opponents.

In a televised debate held by the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Saturday, candidates downplayed the impact of recent swings in the polls.

After PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) announced his support for the KMT's Huang Jun-ying (黃俊英) on Thursday, several polls show a dramatic rise in the KMT candidate's popularity such that he now threatens DPP rival and incumbent mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).

"Recent polls show that my popularity has become close to that of Mr. Hsieh but the margin is still narrow," Huang said in his opening remark at the debate.

Despite polls by three media organizations showing that he has overtaken Hsieh, Huang is urging caution and telling supporters to keep on their toes.

The polls, carried out and published after Soong's endorsement on Thursday, reveal a tight race.

The China Times poll puts support for Huang at 35 percent and Hsieh's at 32. A TVBS poll puts Huang ahead with 45 percent support and Hsieh coming in with 33 percent, while the United Daily has Huang and Hsieh with 35 percent and 34 percent support, respectively.

A poll by the DPP, however, puts Hsieh ahead of Huang by a 10 percent margin.

Independent candidates Shih Ming-te (施明德) and Chang Po-ya (張博雅) called into question the reliability of the polls.

"The poll results could have been manipulated or fabricated," said Shih, a former DPP chairman.

Shih added that he felt sad because few people understand the importance of opening up Kaohsiung to make it a port city of commerce and trade.

"I'm alone; lonely, but correct," Shih said.

Chang said opinion polls cannot be trusted.

"Otherwise we don't need to vote. We could just have the CEC to carry out several polls and let the outcome determine who is elected to office," she said.

Beginning in September, Chang said, major parties began to manipulate polls in a bid to discourage opponents.

"That has obviously violated the Election and Recall Law (選舉罷免法). I suggest that the CEC investigate political parties' deliberate involvement in polling immediately," Chang said.

Chang, who had expected the backing of the PFP and had sought collaboration with Huang and Shih, now says that "the non-party [group of independents] is the biggest party."

Hsieh did not address the poll issue in his speech at the televised debate, but he said on Friday that collaboration between pan-blue parties in Kaohsiung was in preparation for the 2004 presidential election.

"Such insincere collaboration will halt the city's development for at least two years. It's not fair to Kaohsiung residents," Hsieh said.

The DPP candidate's campaign has targeted Huang by accusing him of being involved in a scam when he served as deputy Kaohsiung mayor four years ago.

Hsieh said that Huang and then KMT mayor Wu Den-yi (吳敦義) hastily approved a plan for the former site of the Kaohsiung Ammonium Sulfate Co just two days before the change in the mayoralty. Hsieh said the move allowed illegal funds to flow to corrupt politicians and their collaborators, at the expense of the city government and the company, which was run by the Taiwan Provincial Government.

Huang, however, said the act of the then KMT city government was legal and that what led to the scandal was the actions of the Hsieh administration.

Huang filed a lawsuit against Hsieh at the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office yesterday, stating Hsieh's allegations are based on rumors and violate the Public Officials Election and Recall law (公職人員選舉罷免法).

Hsieh was busy yesterday refuting accusations from the KMT. On Saturday, Hsieh filed a lawsuit at the same prosecutors' office against KMT Legislator Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教). Lee claimed that a NT$4.5 million check was sent to Hsieh from Su Hui-chen (蘇惠珍), former vice president of Zanadau Development Corp.

The Zanadau corruption case involving Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), chairman of the China Development Holding Corp and former chief of the KMT's Investment and Business Management Committee, is under investigation.

Hsieh said that he is irrelevant to the investigation, adding that it was impossible for him to have done business with the people involved.

As for Su, Hsieh said, "I personally don't have friendship, business or common interests with her."

On Saturday, Hsieh urged supporters to report groundless accusations and rumors in order to maintain the city's dignity.
This story has been viewed 2817 times.