With the approach of the Dec. 3 local government elections, various government agencies have begun intensive investigations into claims of vote-buying and other illegal or violent election-related activities, Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (
Su said that the ministry has been cooperating with the National Police Agency since September to assure the impartiality of next month's elections, as well as to prevent vote-buying and election-related violence.
Main focus
Vote-buying was the main focus of investigations, Su said. In addition to the more conventional and obvious bribing methods, like free dinners and expensive presents, cash bribes are on the rise because evidence of these is harder to collect, he said.
Vice Minister of Justice Wang Tian-sheng (
Wang said cash bribery is usually at its peak three days before elections and often plays a crucial role in the "victory" or "defeat" of a candidate.
Wang said the investigations would be more effective than during the election of the Sixth Legislative Yuan last year, as the ministry started inspections earlier this time around.
The Central Election Commission has issued several short promotional films against vote-buying as well as announcements in 10 major newspapers about the importance of "clean elections."
However, being questioned by legislators on the investigation procedures of individual vote-buying cases yesterday at the Legislative Yuan, the two ministries and the commission seemed to be unsure of what their respective responsibilities were.
Individual cases
Individual cases, the ministries said, were mainly left for district prosecutors or investigators to decide.
Premier Frank Hsieh (
"Usually, there are more potential bribery cases during the last week before the election. And those potential vote-buyers will use cash when they violate the law," Government Information Office Minister Pasuya Yao (姚文智) said on behalf of the premier during a press conference held after the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday.
Hsieh affirmed the Ministry of Justice's plan and schedule for the anti-bribery crackdown, but also reminded law enforcement officers not to relax their guard, because more potential bribery cases usually surface at the last minute.
According to statistics provided by the Justice ministry during the meeting, a total of 8,559 alleged bribery cases had been reported as of Tuesday.
Law enforcement officers have already launched investigations into 2,275 of the reported cases.
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