Bribery allegations connected to last week's legislative vote on top government posts were renewed yesterday after Chang Po-ya (張博雅), the failed nominee for Examination Yuan vice president, accused lawmakers of putting their votes up for sale.
But Chang refused to identify the legislators or elaborate further on her claims, saying only that the lawmakers were not from the DPP.
Chang said the legislators who sought cash in exchange for their support had approached her aides instead of coming directly to her.
The former interior minister said she was surprised that this kind of thing could happen.
Chang's nomination was rejected last Friday after she came up 11 votes short of the number required for confirmation.
Chang's refusal to pay off legislators was reportedly the main reason behind her failure to win enough votes.
Allegations of vote-buying were first disclosed by local media, which cited unnamed sources close to Chang.
According to reports, the group of legislators asked for NT$2 million to NT$3 million per vote around half an hour before the polling deadline.
The legislators had also shown Chang a check for NT$150 million to prove that they had actually been paid in exchange for their support in the balloting process, and had asked Chang to buy their support as well, reports said.
Because some TSU legislators reportedly voted against Chang's nomination last Friday, there is speculation that the group of legislators soliciting money from Chang were from the TSU.
The testimony by Chang's camp adds to the vote-buying allegations that have been widely circulated in the legislature over the past two weeks. Before this, the KMT and PFP alleged that the DPP had offered opposition legislators NT$5 million to NT$10 million to try to win their support.
KMT Legislator Lee Chia-chin (
While the nominations for grand justices and Control Yuan members were worth up to NT$5 million per vote, the rate for the nomination of Examination Yuan president climbed to NT$10 million per vote for some legislators, Lee said.
Chin Huei-chu (
Chin said the DPP had resorted to every possible means to help Yao win the appointment, but had not worked as hard to help Chang.
A legislator from the pan-blue camp, who spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested that the group of legislators whom Chang referred to approached her after they heard of the high rewards received by other opposition legislators targeted by the DPP.
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