The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday said it would transfer an alleged conflict of interest case involving NPP Legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal to the Legislative Yuan’s Discipline Committee for investigation following accusations that she abused her power to obtain government subsidies totaling NT$4 million (US$128,721).
The Green Party Taiwan on Monday said that two non-governmental organizations run by Kawlo’s assistant had received NT$4 million in subsidies from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The two groups — the Taiwan Association for Indigenous Peoples and Taiwan Associations for Startups and Marketing Centers — were among 19 organizations that in January received ministry subsidies to establish “clean” energy facilities.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Both groups were established by the former director of Kawlo’s office, Chen Shih-chang (陳士章), and are currently managed by her office assistant, Chen En-tse (陳恩澤), the Green Party said on Facebook.
Despite having no former achievements, the two groups each received the maximum subsidy of NT$2 million, it said.
As Kawlo is a member of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, which is responsible for supervising the ministry, the Green Party accused her assistant of breaching the Act on Recusal of Public Servants Due to Conflicts of Interest (公職人員利益衝突迴避法) by applying for the ministry program.
Article 14 of the act bans public servants and people closely related to them from receiving subsidies from or engaging in monetary transactions with government agencies or organizations under their supervision, it said.
In cases involving an open bidding process, the act requires the bidding public servant, or people related to them, to disclose their identity or connection to the public servant to avoid a conflict of interest, it said.
“When the applicant is a legislator’s office assistant, would the ministry dare give them anything less than the maximum amount? The key question is whether Kawlo exerted pressure on the ministry,” the Green Party said.
Kawlo on Monday denied abusing her power to obtain any subsidies, saying: “The untrue accusations have undermined the reputation of the NPP and myself.”
The subsidies were applied “according to law,” as the act’s provision requiring bidders to disclose their connection to public servants had not yet gone into effect when he applied, Chen En-tse said in a statement yesterday.
The ministry’s Bureau of Energy confirmed that Chen had applied for the subsidies without disclosing his connection to the legislator, and that he applied months before the provisions came into effect in December last year.
The ministry would consult with the Ministry of Justice to determine whether the amendment should apply to the case, it added.
The NPP found evidence that Kawlo’s assistant applied for the subsidy and that Kawlo breached provisions regarding conflict of interest in the Legislators’ Conduct Act (立法委員行為法), the NPP said yesterday after an internal disciplinary meeting.
The committee was unable to reach Kawlo, but told her to offer an explanation on the case by 5pm today, it said, adding that if she does not give an explanation by then, the committee would make a decision without consulting her.
If Kawlo is found to have contravened the law, “in the most severe case, the NPP would require her to resign as legislator and would remove her from the NPP’s decisionmaking committee,” party spokesman Lee Chao-li (李兆立) said.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in
RSS