Minister of Justice Morley Shih (
Because more than 10 local councilor and township chief candidates who had been detained for vote-buying during their campaigns -- as well as most of the candidates who were under investigation for vote-buying -- won in the elections on Saturday, State Public Prosecutor-General Wu Ying-chao (吳英昭) yesterday told the legislative judicial committee that "Taiwanese people are too sensational."
Shih also told the committee that he felt it was strange that most of the candidates suspected of vote-buying were able to get elected.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Huang Teh-fu (
Wu responded, "If that is the truth, then Taiwan's democracy is done."
Shih said prosecutors nationwide will swiftly file annulment suits against 20 local councilship winners and 10 township chiefs that were indicted for vote-buying before election day.
Shih said that according to the Election and Recall Law (選舉罷法), annulment suits must be filed within 15 days of the announcement of election results.
Shih added that prosecutors nationwide are still probing a number of vote-buying scandals.
"Prosecutors are expediting their investigations for the purpose of filing annulment suits," Shih said.
Chu Chao-liang (
Tainan prosecutors indicted 17 candidates before Saturday's poll, all of whom won election.
In addition to the councilor and township elections, Taitung Council Speaker Wu Chun-li (
A number of prosecutors said that they were disappointed with the election results.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS