The appointment of a sitting county commissioner to a prominent posting in Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) election campaign has drawn complaints that it could be in violation of rules on government neutrality.
Chu announced yesterday that his former bitter rival in the primary for the KMT ticket in the area soon-to-be-named Sinbei City, Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), had accepted the position of campaign chairperson in his bid for the Nov. 27 election.
While there had been speculation that the appointment would take place, the two had refused to comment publicly until yesterday.
The move will likely surprise some of Chou’s supporters, who were outraged after he announced in February that he was withdrawing his bid for Sinbei City mayor.
Speaking on the decision, Chou said that “after polls showed that I was trailing in support, I willingly conceded and threw my support behind Chu,” adding that he believed Chu “truly cared” about Taipei County residents and suggested he was the best man for the job.
“As I’m now serving as his campaign chairperson, I want all [my] friends to stop being reluctant and come out and fully support Chu,” he said, calling his appointment the “best demonstration of democratic tolerance.”
However, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) campaign saw things in a different light and demanded some answers.
At a campaign stop yesterday, Tsai said the appointment was more evidence that some government officials involved with Chu’s campaign were not politically neutral.
Chou is the latest addition to a campaign roster with other prominent political figures including 13 sitting KMT legislators, Taipei County deputy commissioner Tsai Chia-fu (蔡家福) and local representatives, as well as KMT Vice Chairman Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正).
“We didn’t have to wait until [Chou’s] appointment to feel strongly that this has already been taking place,” she said. “We do recognize that there is no way to completely stop this, but we do ask that local and central governments try to avoid [conflicts of interest].”
In recent weeks, Tsai Ing-wen said she felt she was under surveillance from Chu’s campaign, adding that “there was always a feeling of an invisible hand present” during campaign events around Taipei County.
Lin Chieh-yu (林芥佑), spokesperson for Chu’s campaign, called Tsai Ing-wen’s claims “totally ridiculous.”
“I think there are double standards at work here,” he said. “Tsai was involved in campaigning for DPP candidates when she was vice premier and there were no problems with that.”
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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