Kaohsiung councilors quit your seats: Chen

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 (朱安雄) in the election for speaker on Dec. 25 last year.

Wang Wen-cheng (王文正), a DPP member and director of Kaohsiung City Government's Civil Affairs Bureau, was also detained yesterday. Prosecutors suspect he approached councilors to vote for Chu and later delivered the bribe money for him.

Wang and Councilor Yang Ting-kuo (楊定國) were both expelled from the party yesterday. Councilors Jan Yung-lung (詹永龍), Cheng Hsin-chu (鄭新助), Chiang Chen-lu (江振陸) and Tsai Chang-ken (蔡長根) had already been expelled for their roles in the scandal.

Also expelled yesterday was Huang Hsin-chung (黃信中), general manager of Happy Radio FM97.5, a Kaohsiung affiliate of Taipei radio station ET FM.

He is suspected of helping distribute bribe money for Chu.

Chu and his wife, former legislator Wu Der-mei (吳德美), have been detained since Dec. 30 on suspicion of bribery and possibly financial fraud involving Chu's embattled An Feng Group.

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.