President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday urged Kaohsiung City councilors who sold their votes during the election for the council's speaker to give up their seats.
At a meeting of the DPP's Central Standing Committee, Chen said that admitting one's guilt and even handing back the bribe money would be insufficient to atone for their acts.
He said that his party would seek the cooperation of other parties to hold elections to fill the vacant posts.
More than 20 councilors from several parties are suspected of accepting bribes to vote for Chu An-hsiung (
Wang Wen-cheng (
Wang and Councilor Yang Ting-kuo (
Also expelled yesterday was Huang Hsin-chung (
He is suspected of helping distribute bribe money for Chu.
Chu and his wife, former legislator Wu Der-mei (
Under election regulations, except for those serving prison terms, councilors who are convicted of bribery can keep their seats.
Chen yesterday said that the regulations did not live up to the public's expectations.
He therefore urged the city councilors involved in the bribery scandal to quit their positions voluntarily to allow the city government to ponder ways to fill their seats.
The party has formed a five-person task force to investigate the matter and use public pressure to force the city councilors to resign if they refuse to accept Chen's suggestion.
Independent city councilors have become the council's biggest group, holding 23 of the 44 seats, after 14 councilors in the DPP, KMT and PFP left their parties.
Nineteen city councilors have given themselves up to prosecutors and a sum of NT$25 million in bribes has been turned in.
According to prosecutors, the money, which could total NT$100 million if it is all handed in, will be put into the nation's coffers.
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