Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) was reprimanded on Friday by a commission of the Judicial Yuan for failing to attend Tainan City Council meetings for more than 200 days.
However, the disciplinary action will not affect Lai’s duties or salary.
The Control Yuan voted to impeach Lai by a 7-2 margin in early August for “gross negligence” because Lai had not fulfilled his duty to attend question-and-answer sessions at the council.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times
His case was turned over to the Disciplinary Sanctions of Public Functionaries Commission.
“The commission’s move highlighted the fact that democracy is ruled by law, not by men,” said Control Yuan member Chang Kuei-mei (仉桂美), who first proposed impeaching Lai.
She said the division of responsibility and the balance of power is the fundamental spirit of democracy, and nobody should rise above the system with their own interpretations.
“Even with high votes or popularity, everyone should tread the road of democracy,” she said.
Lai, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said he remains committed to his original goal.
“Even if disciplined by the commission, my original goal of reform will remain unchanged,” he said.
The popular mayor said that he left his career as a doctor to become a politician because he is committed to reforming and safeguarding Taiwan.
Lai said he hoped that the public would continue to support his efforts to eradicate “black gold” politics, which refers to the collaboration of politicians, businesspeople and criminal elements to corrupt Taiwan’s political system.
Lai did not say whether he thought the discipline was too harsh or whether he plans to ask for a review.
In late August, he ended an eight-month boycott of city council meetings to protest against alleged vote-buying by Tainan City Council Speaker Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
On Jan. 6, Lai said he would not attend any city council meetings until the vote-buying allegations against Lee had been addressed through the judicial system.
Lee won the election for council speaker on Dec. 25 last year by defeating then-incumbent Lai Mei-hui (賴美惠) of the DPP by a 29-26 margin, even though the KMT held only 16 seats in the 57-member council, compared with the DPP’s 29.
Lee was indicted on vote-buying charges in early April and released on NT$15 million (US$457,289) bail by the Tainan District Court.
Lee was also implicated in vote buying during the run-up to the municipal elections on Nov. 29 last year, in which he won a seat on the city council.
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