DPP chides members for misconduct

The DPP yesterday reprimanded two of its lawmakers-at-large for being involved in vote-buying allegations which has tarnished the party's image.

The two lawmakers-at-large are Chen Sheng-hung (陳勝宏) and the party's old guard Chang Chun-hung (張俊宏), a former DPP secretary-general. Both were accused by Su Hui-chen (蘇惠珍), the majority shareholder of the Zanadau Development Corp of accepting bribes from her during the party's primaries for nominating legislators at large last year.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), in his capacity as the party chairman said in a press statement yesterday that "the DPP would never tolerate anything that taints the party's incorruptible image. We condemn those who are involved in vote-buying activities and demand that such things never occur again, but if they do, the crimes will be treated with severe punishments."

Chen made the statement at the party's Central Standing Committee meeting. He urged all party members to display exemplary conduct to protect the party's image and suggested that the party amend its nomination procedures for legislators-at-large to decrease the chances that its candidates would be susceptible to bribes.

The committee yesterday held disciplinary discussions on Chen Sheng-hung and Chang based on an internal investigation undertaken by five lawyers which specified that the two had different degrees of involvement in the bribery scam.

DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said yesterday in a press briefing after the meeting that the investigators ruled that Chen Sheng-hung was aware of the bribery scam, but no evidence indicates he was directly involved in bribery, while Chang had no knowledge of the bribes.

"There is no evidence showing Chang might have been aware of the vote-buying scam or have participated in it, while the investigators deemed that Chen Sheng-hung was actually aware of the plot," Lee said.

Chang told reporters yesterday that he found the party's condemnation unacceptable and reproached the party for failing to exercise good judgment.

"I'll reserve my right to seek an appeal," Chang said.

Chen Sheng-hung yesterday issued a press release denying the vote-buying charges, and claimed that he would commit suicide if he were guilty.

Meanwhile, the DPP yesterday remained tightlipped about the nomination for a candidate to run for the by-election of the Hualien County commissioner while the pan-blue alliance announced Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山), a former KMT secretary-general, will join the race.

Lee Chin-yung said yesterday that "since the registration date for the by-election starts tomorrow, the party is expected to announce its nominee by then."

Amid the pan-blue camp's announcement to designate Hsieh as the candidate, Lee said, "We hope that the KMT and PFP can reinforce their integration and avoid any internal clashes, which would otherwise obscure the focus of the election."

"We expect that it will be a gentleman's competition between the blue camp and the DPP through the debate on public policies in order to win recognition from the residents of Hualien," Lee said.