The KMT announced yesterday that it had filed a criminal lawsuit against independent presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) for embezzlement and forgery while serving as a high-ranking party official.
A senior KMT official yesterday said the lawsuit is part of a dual strategy aimed at limiting Soong's chances of winning the March 18 election, while the party's propaganda machine prepared to make a "soft" appeal to veterans' families to "return" to the KMT.
Party officials announced the lawsuit during a news conference at KMT headquarters yesterday following the weekly central standing committee meeting.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES.
"The incident is a judicial issue, not a political matter and therefore the public should see the case being pursued through a judicial approach,'' said KMT spokesperson Huang Hwei-chen (黃輝珍).
When asked by reporters whether President and KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui (
"Even though Lee himself won't make an appearance in court, if necessary he could write a statement to the court or else delegate KMT officials to attend the court session," Huang said.
According to Chang Nai-liang (
The KMT also accused Soong's sister-in-law, Chen Pi-yun (
Another of the KMT's lawyers for the case said that after the courts handle the criminal charges the ruling party would file a civil suit to try to recover the money it says Soong stole.
A resolution by KMT headquarters, Huang said, is that the party will give the money to charity.
Spokesmen for Soong, how-ever, said they planned to file a countersuit against the KMT for bringing fabricated charges and for deliberately attempting to prevent Soong from being elected as the next president.
While the KMT strongly denies Soong's claim that he and Lee had established a "trust" to handle party money -- the candidate's staff claims to have evidence to prove Soong's innocence.
Hours after the lawsuit was filed, a team of defense lawyers told reporters that the KMT did not have a case.
Soong's attorneys said that Lee approved the transfer of funds for party operations and Soong never embezzled the money.
``We challenge Lee to take a lie-detector test,'' Soong spokesman Liao Wen-chang (
In addition to the seesawing legal drama yesterday, high-ranking KMT officials targeted veterans groups across Taiwan, urging them to abandon Soong in order to save KMT candidate Lien Chan (3s戰).
"The most crucial significance of the unusual financial dealings with the Chung Hsing Bills Finance Corp accounts is that the scandal has damaged Soong, changing him from the most likely winner to the most hopeless loser,'' said Chen Kang-chin (3祟高?, head of the KMT's Taiwan provincial affairs department.
"Soong still has the ability to upset the KMT's dynasty, but lacks the possibility of winning the presidential race on his own," Chen added.
Chen said the KMT would spare no effort to court the families of military veterans -- many of whom are believed to support Soong -- into switching to Lien.
He said the campaign landscape would then become a pitched battle between Lien and the DPP's candidate, Chen Shui-bian (
Further highlighting its strategy, the KMT has already launched a series of negative television ads claiming that Chen has repeatedly changed his stance on many issues thoughout his political career and therefore lacks both stability and credibility.
The KMT's Chen said rural areas are the final bastion of support for the KMT regime.
"Our largest support base lies in Taiwan province, rather than the capital of Taipei," he said.
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