The Control Yuan, the nation’s highest watchdog body, published on Monday a report showing that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had received more political donations and had a larger balance than any other local political party last year.
The report on donations received by political parties that opened special accounts last year showed that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) received donations of NT$117.99 million (US$3.75 million) and had a balance of NT$18.26 million after expenses of NT$99.73 million.
The DPP received NT$205.88 million and had a balance of NT$21.84 million after expenses of NT$184.04 million.
Commenting on the report, DPP Department of Culture and Information Director Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said the party had reported political donations in an “honest” manner.
Cheng said that “all funds received by the DPP under the revised Political Donation Law [政治獻金法] are open to the public and all expenses have been transparent.”
In contrast, he said the KMT’s financial situation was not “transparent,” adding that “some contributions by companies, as well as the KMT’s party assets, were not included in the balance sheet.”
A former KMT official dismissed Cheng’s comments, saying the KMT’s financial situation was healthier than that of the DPP and that the funds in the special account “had not lined someone’s pockets.”
Chang Che-shen (張哲琛), who stepped down as director of the KMT’s Administration Committee to assume the post of minister of Civil Service on Monday, said the party would return donations from companies that lost money, as stipulated in the revised version of the donations law.
The revision passed the Legislative Yuan on July 18 and was promulgated by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Aug. 13. It says that all political donations from companies that lost money should be returned within one month after the implementation of the act.
Chang said the KMT would wait for the Ministry of Economic Affairs to inform it of the companies that were in the red.
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