The Central Election Commission yesterday disqualified 15 city and county councilor hopefuls for having run afoul of the law or electoral procedures, including China Unification Promotion Party member Lee Cheng-lung (李承龍), who in June was convicted of vandalizing a statue of a Japanese engineer in Tainan last year.
The commission made the announcement in a press statement, adding that it had finished vetting all candidates in the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections.
All 25 mayoral candidates in the six special municipalities and all 68 running for mayor or commissionership in other localities have qualified, the commission said.
Photo: CNA
However, three of the 751 city councilor candidates in the special municipalities were stripped of their candidacy, it said.
The Civil Servants Election And Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) prohibits those who have been convicted of sedition, treason or corruption from running for public office, in addition to those who were convicted of a crime and have not completed their sentence at time of registration.
Lee was barred from running for city councilor in Taipei’s third electoral district, because on June 7 he was handed a five-month jail sentence for decapitating a statute of Yoichi Hatta in Tainan in April last year, the commission said, adding that he had not served the sentence by the Aug. 31 registration deadline.
Chang Tien-ming (張天明), who was to run in New Taipei City’s 11th electoral district, was disqualified over a conviction for negligent manslaughter that landed him a six-month jail sentence, which he had not served at the time of registration, it said.
Chen Hsi-chen (陳習珍), who registered in Taichung’s eighth electoral district, was disqualified for not having completed a three-month prison sentence for causing bodily harm through negligence, it said.
Of the 1,018 councilor candidates in other cities and counties, 12 were disqualified, the commission said.
Wu Chang-yung (吳昌運) was disqualified in Miaoli County’s second electoral district, as he was released on parole while serving a six-year-and-eight-month prison sentence, which he received for multiple crimes, including possession of illegal weapons and attempted homicide, it said.
Su Ming-hui (蘇明輝), Liu Liang-pin (劉良彬) and Obay a Awi — who were to run in Hsinchu County’s first, fourth and 13th electoral districts respectively — have been convicted of corruption and stripped of their candidacy, the commission said.
Lee Han-ming (李漢銘) of Yilan County’s first electoral district was also disqualified over a record of corruption, it said.
Cheng Chao-jih’s (鄭朝日) candidacy was revoked because he simultaneously registered to run for county councilor in Hsinchu County’s eighth electoral district and for Jhudong township (竹東) representative, while Hsieh Hsi-cheng (謝希誠) of Hsinchu City’s first electoral district had not served all of his criminal sentence, it added.
Kuo Kun-chang (郭坤昌) in Miaoli’s second electoral district was stripped of his candidacy as he was convicted of assault and had not served his two-month sentence at the time of registration, it said.
Weng Yo-chun (翁侑君) and Hou Ching-he (侯清河), respectively running in Chiayi County’s fifth and sixth electoral districts, were also disqualified for registering as candidates elsewhere, it said.
Ching Hung-ming (秦鴻明) was rejected after registering as a councilor candidate in Pingtung County’s first electoral district as well as a borough warden candidate, the commission said.
Lin Shu-ling (林淑玲) of Taitung County’s eighth electoral district had yet to serve her full criminal sentence and was also barred from running, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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