The number of reported vote-buying cases in relation to the legislative elections on Saturday exceeds 6,000 and involves more than 9,000 people, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday.
Lu made the remarks while campaigning for Hualien County Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative candidate Lu Po-chi (
Lu called on voters to report vote-buying cases to the authorities and warned candidates not to take their chances, as the authorities had plans in place to crack down on vote buying.
DETACHMENT
In preparation for the elections, 1,500 investigators have been assigned to the anti-vote buying detachment.
All are required to stay on duty until the elections are over, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Urging investigative authorities to step up their crackdown on vote-buying during the final week before the legislative elections, Chang said law enforcement officers should put aside their personal political preferences to ensure that an efficient legislature is created through clean elections.
The elections, in which the single-member district and two-vote system (
Also, the reduction of the number of seats in the new legislature -- from 225 to 113 -- will double the power of legislators, Chang said.
Chang said that it would be a national disaster if the legislature, which is responsible for monitoring the executive branch of government, were controlled by vote buyers.
CAMPAIGN
Last month, civic groups including Taiwan Society held a news conference to highlight their campaign against vote-buying and said the influence of bribery was far-reaching, adding that courts had been lenient in punishing violations in the past.
The groups have sought much tougher penalties for vote-buying, from the current prison term of three to 10 years to a minimum penalty of five years.
Punishment for individuals who are found to have received bribes, they said, should be increased to between one year and seven years and/or fined between NT$50,000 and NT$500,000.
Existing penalties for receiving bribes are three years imprisonment and/or a fine of NT$5,000, the groups said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book