The Cabinet yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法) aimed at increasing the transparency of campaign financing and reducing the risk of illegal activities, the Executive Yuan said.
The drafts were approved at a meeting chaired by Premier William Lai (賴清德), who described them as an embodiment of the resolutions made by the National Congress on Judicial Reform.
If passed by the Legislative Yuan, the amendments would require that contributions to politicians from individual and corporate donors be made public through the Control Yuan’s Web site, Deputy Minister of the Interior Hua Ching-chun (花敬群) said.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
The Political Donations Act requires the Control Yuan to publish online only a political campaign’s final accounts, whereas the proposal would require the publication of all 25 items in campaign finance reports, he said.
The amendments also stipulate that the Control Yuan publish the campaign finance reports of each politician in full, instead of just a portion of them, he said.
They would shift the period during which township mayoral candidates are permitted to receive political contributions to coincide with those of city and county councilor candidates, officials said.
City and county councilor candidates are allowed to receive donations starting from eight months before the current postholder’s tenure is expected to expire until the day before election day.
The amendments would also establish a legal framework for political contributions made to the campaigns of Aboriginal district administrators and city councilors in the six special municipalities, the premier said.
Clearer regulations would help protect the political rights of Aboriginal citizens and their elected representatives, he said.
The Ministry of the Interior has been told to help party caucuses facilitate the speedy passage of the bill through the legislature, he said.
The Executive Yuan is also considering drafting additional amendments that would legalize and regulate campaign contributions during recall elections as part of its next round of campaign finance law reforms, a Ministry of the Interior official said on condition of anonymity.
CALL FOR PEACE: Czech President Petr Pavel raised concerns about China’s military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait and its ‘unfriendly action’ in the South China Sea The leaders of three diplomatic allies — Guatemala, Paraguay and Palau — on Tuesday voiced support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the UN on the first day of the UN General Debate in New York. In his address during the 78th UN General Assembly, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr urged the UN and all parties involved in cross-strait issues to exercise restraint and seek a peaceful resolution. “The well-being and prosperity of nations and their economies are intrinsically linked to global peace and stability,” he said. He also thanked partner nations such as Taiwan, Australia, Japan and the US for providing assistance
CROSS-STRAIT CONCERNS: At the same US Congress hearing, Mira Resnick said a US government shutdown could affect weapons sales and licenses to allies such as Taiwan A Chinese blockade of Taiwan would be a “monster risk” for Beijing and likely to fail, while a military invasion would be extremely difficult, senior Pentagon officials told the US Congress on Tuesday. Growing worries of a conflict come as China has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan, holding large-scale war games simulating a blockade on the nation, while conducting near-daily warplane incursions and sending Chinese vessels around its waters. US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner said a blockade would be “a monster risk for the PRC [People’s Republic of China].” “It would likely not succeed, and it
AMPHIBIOUS EXERCISES: The defense ministry said that it had detected 24 Chinese PLA Air Force planes entering Taiwan’s air defense zone over the previous 24 hours Chinese movements around Taiwan were “abnormal,” Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday, flagging recent amphibious exercises in addition to drills Taipei has observed in China’s Fujian Province. Taiwan has reported a rise in Chinese military activity over the past week as dozens of fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships, have operated around the nation. “Our initial analysis is that they are doing joint drills in September, including land, sea, air and amphibious,” Chiu told reporters at the legislature in Taipei. The “recent enemy situation is quite abnormal,” he said. The comments followed a statement from the
IN MOURNING: Tsai visited the site and spoke with family members of those killed, while all the major presidential candidates said they would temporarily halt campaigning A fire and subsequent explosions at a golf ball factory at Pingtung Technology Industrial Park (屏東科技產業園區) killed at least seven people, including four firefighters, and injured 98, while three were still missing, authorities said yesterday. The blaze at Launch Technologies Co’s (明揚國際) plant on Jingjian Road raged for more than 12 hours after it started at about 5pm on Friday, officials said. The Pingtung County Fire Bureau early yesterday used large excavators to search for missing people, while family members waited at the scene. Pingtung County Fire Bureau Director Hsu Mei-hsueh (許美雪) said the bureau received a call about the fire at 5:31pm
RSS