The Presidential Office and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) maintained a low profile yesterday following the resignation of former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) amid his alleged involvement in a bribery scandal, seeking to minimize the damage by describing the incident as a judicial case.
Presidential Office deputy spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has stated clearly that he respected Lin’s decision to resign from the post while under investigation.
The KMT also tried to distance itself from Lin. Director of the KMT’s Culture and Communication Committee, Chuang Po-chun (莊伯仲), said the party would not comment on any judicial case and Lin should make clarifications or explanations on his own.
However, the bribery allegations against Lin have affected the KMT’s reputation amid Ma’s efforts to improve its image of being old and corrupt.
As one of Ma’s preferred officials, Lin, 44, was also a promising politician in the KMT who had enjoyed a solid support base in Greater Kaohsiung. His alleged involvement in the bribery case could make it more difficult for the KMT to expand its support base in the south of the nation and win future local elections there.
KMT Secretary-General Lin Join-Sane (林中森) said the KMT is dedicated to cultivating more young talent and will finalize its selection of candidates for the June 2014 local elections within the next three months to plan for the campaigns, dismissing concerns about the party’s problematic support base in southern Taiwan.
Meanwhile, despite Ma’s trademark emphasis on “clean politics,” government statistics showed that among the 31 cases since November 2007 in which political parties were penalized because their nominees were engaged in vote-buying, the KMT was involved in 26 cases, while the Democratic Progressive Party had three and the People First Party and the Dadao Compassion Jishih Party each had one.
The Election and Recall Act for Public Servants (公職人員選舉罷免法) was amended in November 2007 to hold political parties responsible if candidates endorsed by them are found to be engaged in campaign irregularities.
The KMT has been fined NT$16 million (US$535,000) for the 26 campaign irregularities.
Most of the vote-buying incidents involving KMT candidates — with a few exceptions such as the case involving former KMT legislator Chiang Lien-fu (江連福) in December 2007 — have occurred after Ma was sworn in as the party chairman in October 2008.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
RSS