DPP slams claims of election trade-offs by newspaper

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday dismissed allegations in a report by the Chinese-language China Times that it had offered public appointments in exchange for other parties' candidates dropping out of the legislative elections in January.

"We nominate our candidates in accordance with democratic procedure," said Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓), director of the DPP's Culture and Information Department. "There are no political trade-offs or patronage appointments."

Hsieh made the remarks in response to an allegation that the DPP offered Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) the post of president of CSBC Corp, Taiwan, in exchange for dropping out of the legislative race.

Hsieh instead pointed the finger at the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), saying it has a long history of using government appointments in exchange for the withdrawal of candidates in elections.

"The KMT is a repeat offender with a notorious track record," she said. "I am calling on investigators and prosecutors to intervene in a swift manner. They should handle the matter in accordance with the law and refrain from leaking information to the media to damage the DPP's reputation."

At a separate setting yesterday, Lo said that he viewed the allegation as a humiliation and would file a slander suit against any individuals making such claims.

"My withdrawal from the campaign was a decision I made after I talked to TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝)," he said.

"The person who will be assigned as the president [of CSBC Corp] is former deputy Kaohsiung mayor Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文隆), not me," he said.

KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) yesterday said such trade-offs did happen.

"Everybody knows how serious the situation is," Kuo said, alleging that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) used job offers to lure some DPP or TSU members into dropping out of the legislative poll.

She did not present evidence to back her claim.

Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang and Flora Wang