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
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust
Central and southern Taiwan are to see increasingly heavy rainfall from last night through Friday due to the effects of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said Tropical Storm Co-May had weakened into a low-pressure system on Saturday, but that it strengthened again into a tropical depression (TD 11) near the seas around Japan's Ryukyu Islands due to favorable environmental conditions. The tropical depression is expected to persist for two to three days, moving west-northwest by this afternoon and reaching China's Zhejiang through the East China Sea tomorrow,
RSS