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Attacks heat up in Taipei County, Penghu and Tainan

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday demanded that the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Taipei County commissioner candidate Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) explain whether his family had engaged in fixing the bidding of the county's construction projects.

DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said that Chou's father, Chou Shu-fu (周書府), formed a consortium of construction companies and used C prerogative as a lawmaker in 1993 to fix the bidding for sub-contracts of the Northern Second Freeway construction project with the builder, Ret-Ser Engineering Agency.

One of the companies awarded the contract was headed by Chou Hsi-wei and his elder brother, Chou Hsi-ting (周錫珽), Hsu said.

In addition to calling on Chou Hsi-wei to offer an explanation, Hsu requested that voters shun Chou.

In response, Chou Hsi-wei asked the DPP to double-check their facts before making any allegations, because he was studying overseas in 1993 and his brother's company eventually did not win the contract.

Jumping to Chou Hsi-wei's defense, the KMT caucus yesterday accused the DPP's Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉) of abusing his political authority in 1997 to compel a company to donate NT$20 million (US$600,000) to Taipei City's Culture Foundation, chaired by Luo.

The DPP caucus, however, dismissed the KMT's allegation as "ridiculous" and called on the KMT to stop its smear campaign.

DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) said that Luo did not force the company to donate any money to the foundation and that all the foundation's funds went to support the city's cultural activities.

Lai further accused former legislator Chen Jung-shen (陳榮盛), the KMT's candidate for Tainan mayor, of filing a false financial declaration and using his political power to write off bad loans totaling NT$240 million.

DPP Legislator Kuan Pi-ling (管碧玲) questioned whether Chen had deliberately failed to include four pieces of land in his financial statements, and said Chen may have tried to transfer his properties to family members in a bid to evade taxes.

Lai called on the electorate to reject KMT candidates, most of whom he said either use their political clout to secure improper bank loans, or engage in other illegal acts.

Upset by the DPP's accusations, Chen yesterday filed a lawsuit for defamation and violation of the Election and Recall Law (違反選舉罷免法) against Lai, Kuan and two other DPP legislators at the Tainan District Prosecutor's Office.

Meanwhile, the DPP's candidate in the Penghu commissioner race, Chen Kuang-fu (陳光復), yesterday accused his KMT rival, Makung Mayor Wang Chien-fa (王乾發), of being incompetent and engaging in nepotism.
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