The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday presented a list of "dirty" election tactics it said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) could resort to in order to win the upcoming elections -- including staging destabilizing incidents -- and called on voters not to be manipulated.
The list was compiled by the KMT's "Election Tactics Research Center." The party said the government might exacerbate cross-strait tensions or stage a physical attack on DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and blame it on the KMT or Mainlanders to create social turmoil.
The DPP may also seek to manipulate voters along ethnic lines by playing up KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) ethnic identity, as he is a Mainlander, the KMT said.
The DPP could also assassinate Ma or Hsieh and then postpone the election, it said.
The KMT also said the DPP might attempt to attract votes with empty promises.
The party also said the DPP could predict Hsieh will win the election in order to influence people placing illegal bets on the outcome to put their money on Hsieh, KMT Spokesperson Chen Shu-rong (陳淑容) said, adding that these people would then vote for Hsieh to win money.
The DPP may also harass KMT candidates with a barrage of never-ending telephone calls to their campaign headquarters, create DVDs detailing trumped up accusations against Ma and his running mate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), threaten voters to prevent them from voting for the KMT, block Taiwanese businessmen from re-entering the country to cast their votes, accuse the KMT of poisoning DPP candidates, or claim it has evidence of corruption in the KMT.
Chen said its list of potential DPP tactics had been compiled with input from local KMT branches, adding that the KMT would remain vigilant as the legislative and presidential elections approach.
"We have made these 15 tactics public in order to inform voters of the DPP's attempt to influence election results through despicable methods, and we invite them to oppose such a political party by voting against it," she said.
In response, DPP caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) said the KMT was entertaining "wild fantasies" and still living in the mindset of the Martial Law era.
The KMT's 15 "dirty tricks" are no more than a figment of its imagination, he said.
Wang said 20 examples of "dirty tricks" on the part of KMT campaigners and candidates to rig elections over the years had been prosecuted and the perpetrators convicted.
Vote-buying is an old KMT classic, Wang said.
Additional reporting by CNA
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS