Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) said yesterday the party would not address the case of legislative caucus whip Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) for the time being, despite a district court ruling invalidating his election on the grounds of alleged vote-buying.
Wu said the KMT would respect the verdict of Yunlin District Court that nullified Chang’s election in a general poll a year ago.
NO PLANS
He said, however, that the party had no plans to refer his case to its disciplinary committee, as it had yet to be heard in a higher court.
However, the KMT would assess whether Chang should continue to serve as KMT whip in the legislative session, which is scheduled to conclude at the end of next month, he said.
After learning of the ruling on Friday, Chang said he would appeal the case to the Taiwan High Court.
ELECTIONS
Chang won a regional legislative seat in Yunlin County in January, but his defeated opponent, Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) of the Democratic Progressive Party, accused him of vote-buying and filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the election results.
The local district court said in its ruling that Chang was aware of and had taken part in a vote-buying scheme organized by his father, Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元), the head of a local irrigation association, to solicit votes by offering cash bribes to voters.
Chang Hui-yuan was found guilty of election bribery and sentenced to five years and eight months in jail.
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