Chiayi County Commissioner Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) came under fire yesterday for giving the green light for a 26-year-old woman to temporarily replace her mother as mayor of Dalin Township (大林).
“Chen’s resolve to end partisanship in the county government is nothing but a sham,” Chiayi County Councilor Lai Mei-chen (賴美珍) said, adding that Chen had lost his credibility to run an impartial government.
Councilor Lee Kuo-sheng (李國勝) asked if the town had “run out of qualified people?”
Dalin Mayor Lee Hsiu-mei (李秀美) was found guilty of vote-buying for giving away tea to constituents during the 2005 election.
Facing a three-month jail sentence and a one-year suspension of her civil rights, she recommended her daughter, Huang Chen-yu (黃貞瑜), replace her while she serves her sentence.
Lee Hsiu-mei told a press conference yesterday that her daughter had been helping out at the office for a while and was familiar with local affairs and developments.
Huang told the press conference she was confident that she could handle the task.
Chen said the move would the benefit the county because Huang would inject vitality and creativity into the township government.
Huang will be formally installed as mayor on Tuesday.
The central government cannot intervene in the matter because the Ministry of Interior regulations have no rules governing the qualifications of replacement mayors.
The Chiayi County Government has the sole authority to decide on Lee’s replacement.
The ministry said in a press statement yesterday that while the county’s decision was not illegal, the public might find it “unacceptable.”
“Although Lee’s daughter, Huang, was assigned to serve as acting mayor, it may still be the person who has been suspended handling mayoral duties,” the ministry said.
“While the Local Government Act [地方制度法] does not place limitations on education and other qualifications for substitute local government heads, the county administration should make the decision based on the candidate’s education, character, morality, leadership capability or experience in public administration,” the ministry statement said.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
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