Forty people, including 34 councilors and a legislator, were indicted yesterday on charges related to the bribery scandal in the December election of the Kaohsiung City Council speaker and vice speaker.
"We hope this is the last such prosecution in Taiwan's history. The culture of vote-buying has been devastating to ... Taiwan's democracy," Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office spokesman Chou Chang-chin (
Prosecutors are seeking prison terms for the 34 councilors, including Council Speaker Chu An-hsiung (
Both Chu and Tsai declined to comment on the indictments.
On Dec. 26, Chu was elected speaker after gaining 25 of 44 votes.
According to the indictment released by the prosecutors' office yesterday, independent councilor Tsai Ching-yuan (蔡慶源) had prepared to run for the speakership by paying five councilors NT$5 million each for their votes through PFP Councilor Lee Jung-chung (李榮宗).
On Dec. 24 last year, after determining that he was destined to fail in the race, Tsai met with Chu and persuaded Chu to cover his expenses in exchange for backing Chu's bid, the indictment said.
Meanwhile, independent Tsai Sung-hsiung agreed to give up his bid for the speakership and sold five votes, for which he had paid NT$5 million each, to Chu.
Of the 34 councilors, 10 are DPP members, 10 belong to the KMT, six to the PFP, and eight are independents.
The other defendants include DPP Legislator Lin Chin-hsing (
Some of the councilors, however, insisted yesterday the judges would find them innocent.
Lee yesterday denied his involvement, saying he had never met with Chu prior to the election.
TSU Legislator Su Ying-kwei (
"This could be the most wonderful battle in Taiwan's judicial history," Su said.
Some of those involved, including a legislator and four city councilors, were not prosecuted due to insufficient evidence, according to Su.
TSU Secretary-General Lin Jih-jia (
Lin also urged the government to replace the councilors involved in the scandal as soon as possible.
The Kaohsiung City Election Commission said yesterday that a by-election will be carried out within three months of convictions being finalized. If, however, councilors are more than two years into their four-year terms by the time their cases are dealt with, a by-election would not be held.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
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