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DPP warns the public of KMT's election `trickery'

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday warned the public to be aware of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) tricks, alleging that they will manipulate stock prices of party-owned businesses to finance their Dec. 3 election campaign.

DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) said that he suspects the KMT is attempting to drive up the stock price of Chinese Television System (CTS) to raise funds for the elections as well as to boost the electorate's confidence in the KMT.

Lai said that the price of CTS stock was recorded at NT$9.68 (US$0.3) per share on Monday but had jumped to NT$10.85 by yesterday, a 12 percent gain in four days.

For a loss-making company, Lai said it was baffling as to why its stock price had increased so much in such a short period of time.

Citing the last presidential election as an example, Lai claimed that the KMT had done this kind of thing before. Lai said that the stock price of CTS rose from NT$9.9 per share on Jan. 13 last year to NT$20 per share by March 19, one day before the election. The price then dropped back to NT$9.95 by July 28.

"I am calling on the public not to fall for the KMT's tricks because it is not worth your money or your vote," he said.

Lai made the remarks in response to the KMT's criticism of Chen Ding-nan (陳定南), the DPP's candidate in the Ilan county commissioner race. KMT legislators berated Chen for applying double standards.

Producing a photograph of a lunch party which pictured Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-ku toasting Chen, Legislator Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) claimed that Chen treated more than 30,000 people to free meals between Nov. 18 and Nov. 22, including the one where Chen was photographed with Yu and thousands of other people.

Tseng said that when Chen served as justice minister, he cracked down heavily on vote-buying and he had defined vote-buying as a treat or gift worth more than NT$30.

"We'd like to know whether or not it is considered vote-buying when high-ranking officials such as Yu or President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) attend these functions," Tseng said. "They think they can get away with it by printing `for sale only' on the entrance tickets, but they cannot fool us."

KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) called on DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and the president to kick Chen Ding-nan out of the election race because Chen Ding-nan has set a very "bad example" for other candidates.
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