The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) went on the offensive yesterday against the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate, Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), accusing him of taking money from the National Chinese Herbal Apothecary Association in 1998, in a move aimed at diverting public attention from Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).
KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said Su Tseng-chang had taken NT$100,000 from the association during his term as a DPP legislator and called on him to explain.
The KMT move came after the Taiwan High Court on Wednesday handed down heavy sentences to eight former or incumbent lawmakers for taking bribes from herbal medicine dealers in the late 1990s. The High Court’s ruling overturned a lower court’s “not guilty” verdict.
“As a Taipei mayoral candidate, Mr Su should accept public scrutiny of his integrity and explain the matter and should stop calling the challenge a smear campaign,” the KMT spokesman said.
Su Tseng-chang has said he received the money as a political donation and the Taiwan High Court cleared him of any wrongdoing.
“I took the political donation via the proper channels and used the money legally for election purposes,” he said. “I urge my opponents not to make groundless attacks.”
Meanwhile, KMT Legislator-at-Large Hsu Shu-po (許舒博), one of the eight defendants, issued a written statement, calling the verdict “unacceptable.”
Hsu could lose his seat because KMT regulations stipulate that party members who are found guilty in a first trial will be suspended and those who are found guilty in a second trial should be expelled. Expulsion would cost Hsu the seat he took over from former KMT lawmaker Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進) last October.
Hsu said he has always followed the law in exercising his authority as a legislator and has never accepted bribes.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
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