People First Party legislative candidate Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) yesterday accused Minister of Labor Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文) of abusing his authority by allowing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative candidate Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) to participate in ministry events.
“The number of events put on by the Ministry of Labor is abnormal; the number of events attended by Minister Chen is abnormal; and based on their past relationship, we can reasonably suspect that he is using Ministry of Labor funds and personnel to help Hau’s campaign,” said Liu, who is competing against Hau in Keelung.
Over the past several months, Chen allowed Hau to participate in four forums and seminars for Keelung union leaders that Chen himself had attended, breaching executive neutrality rules barring candidates from participating in government-sponsored meetings, Liu said.
“Chen was clearly using his authority and public funds to aid Hau’s campaign” he said. “Last year, Chen only participated in one campaign event, in Nantou. Why has he gone four times to Keelung?”
Liu said that Chen’s presence at the events attracted numerous union officials and might have led some to believe Chen was endorsing Hau by allowing him to participate.
Chen had arranged for the meetings because of his “special relationship” with the former Taipei Mayor, Liu said.
Before being appointed minister of labor, Chen served as Taipei deputy mayor during Hau’s term.
“I think there has probably been a misunderstanding. The minister has participated in 20 meetings with union officials across the nation so far this year,” Department of Employment Relations section head Hsu Ken-kuei (許根魁) said.
The Keelung events were arranged at the initiative of local unions, Hsu said.
“During meetings, we absolutely forbid candidates from participating,” he said, while acknowledging that Hau had greeted union leaders at post-meeting meals.
“Who goes in and out of restaurants is not something the ministry can control,” he said, adding that Keelung’s Republican Party legislative candidate Yang Shih-cheng (楊石城) and Democratic Progressive Party candidate Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) had also met with union leaders at post-meeting meals.
Ministry of Civil Service Legal Affairs Department section head Chen Pei-ting (陳珮婷) said that while candidates could be allowed to greet people at government-sponsored events, in principle they should not be allowed to wear campaign vests or distribute campaign material.
She did not comment on ministry photographs showing all three candidates wearing campaign vests while greeting union leaders, saying that official determination of whether rules had been broken was left to the department hosting the event.
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