The heads of local municipalities and cities are obligated by law to report to city councils for questioning, Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) said yesterday, adding that it would be a direct violations of the law for Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) not to attend council meetings, as Lai said he would not until charges of alleged corruption against Tainan Council Speaker Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) are resolved.
Lai said on Tuesday that corruption charges filed against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member Lee have “tarnished the image of Greater Tainan as a symbol of Taiwanese democracy,” adding he would not set foot in the council halls until a legal resolution for the charges has been reached.
Lai said he would take “full legal responsibility for his actions” and was directly accountable to the people of the municipality.
Photo: Huang Hsin-po, Taipei Times
Lee’s former rival in the city’s eighth constituency, DPP member Wang Chun-tan (王峻潭) claimed that Lee had bought votes ahead of the Nov. 29 nine-in-one elections last year and called for Lee’s majority to be declared void.
The motion — if substantiated — would remove Lee as council speaker and allow the DPP a chance to regain the seat after a number of party members voted against DPP orders on the position.
Lai said he sought to preserve the dignity of Greater Tainan even at the cost of his own reputation, adding that he hoped his actions would expose the problems plaguing the local government.
In response to Chen’s claims, Lai said he hoped the minister would pay more attention to why the local elections were saturated with vote-buying — even for the speakership position.
Meanwhile, reporters questioned Lai on Sunday about a meeting between Lee and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) at a press conference in Tainan.
Lai said that it remains to be seen whether the public could accept someone who would sing You are My Brother — a Taiwanese-language song — with someone who is being investigated for vote buying.
Chu, who is the KMT’s sole candidate for party chairman, and Lee sang the song together.
“If the media will not criticize the event, I’m sure the people will,” Lai said.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) asked whether Chen Wei-zen endorsed Lee’s comments that he would “rather die to prove himself” if the judiciary rules his election void.
Chen Wei-zen said such comments are not to be encouraged, adding that Lee should cooperate with the investigation and accept the judiciary’s eventual ruling.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) started a signature drive yesterday in support of Lai’s resolution to not enter the Greater Tainan City Council before the case is resolved.
The council should not be a shield for Lee to hide behind, especially since he is both a councilor and the speaker, Chen Ting-fei said.
Chen Ting-fei said forms could be signed at two of her offices and an Internet version would be made available, adding that she would also give a copy of the signature drive to Lai so he would know that the people are behind him.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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