The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) plans to spend NT$1 billion (US$3.33 million) in Greater Taichung to illegally influence the election, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Greater Taichung mayoral candidate Lin Chia-lung’s (林佳龍) campaign director Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said yesterday.
Su said that rumors about the KMT’s scheme to help Greater Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) retain his position are rife, although he added that there is no evidence proving their veracity.
The KMT’s Taichung Office responded by taking legal action over what it said was slander.
Su made the remarks when he and Lin attended a press conference held by Taiwan Solidarity Union Greater Taichung Councilor Liu Kuo-lung (劉國隆), who said he was dropping out of the race.
Liu’s move benefits the pan-green camp, as it pits two DPP candidates against two KMT candidates — rather than three pan-green candidates against two pan-blue candidates — for three seats in the city’s northern district.
Su said after the conference that he had heard about the KMT’s alleged plan “through the grapevine” and would have turned to judicial means if he had evidence.
“[We do not have concrete proof and] that’s why we’re simply warning the KMT not to do whatever the rumor says it is doing,” Su said. “We are asking the KMT not to underestimate people’s sense of justice, and the DPP would exert every effort to expose any bribery.”
Hu called Su’s allegation “a joke” and “an underestimation of people’s wisdom.”
“Who of the two Greater Taichung mayoral candidates is richer? Who has been lavishing money?” Hu asked, suggesting that Lin, the son-in-law of former Chimei Innolux chairman Frank Liao (廖錦祥), could afford to pay bribes.
KMT Greater Taichung Office director Jiang Shih-liang (江士良) filed a suit alleging defamation and a violation of the Civil Servants Election And Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), which stipulates that “anyone who disseminates rumors or spreads false accusations... for the purpose of getting a candidate elected or not elected... shall be condemned to a fixed term of imprisonment.”
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