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NPA provides extra security personnel to presidential hopefuls

National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday that his agency deployed extra bodyguards two weeks ago to protect the safety of two presidential candidates, as each of them had been guarded by just two NPA personnel since being named as their party's candidate for the 2008 election.

As a result, Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) of the Democratic Progressive Party and Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) now have protection from four NPA security guards each, Hou said in response to questions from reporters after the murder of a Taipei County councilor triggered concerns from politicians over their own safety.

Asked about the shooting of County Councilor Wu Shan-jeou (吳善九) of the People First Party, killed by a lone gunman at his office on Wednesday, Hou said a task force had been organized to investigate the case.

Hou said that Hsieh and Ma originally had just two bodyguards each. But two weeks ago both candidates expressed the hope of securing an additional pair of guards.

Hou said he and the National Security Bureau would reassess the situation next month after the two are formally nominated by their respective parties.

When asked for comment yesterday, Ma said he would pay more attention to his personal safety, adding that he was considering employing even more bodyguards.

At a separate event, Hsieh, when asked the same question by reporters, said he currently had no plans to apply for more bodyguards.

As the public now have the impression that the police are not effective, more police officers should be used to maintain public order and protect the people, he added.
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