Former justice minister Liao Cheng-hao (
At a conference held by the DPP on "connections between organized crime, political party factionalism and conglomerates," Liao was invited to serve as a discussion moderator.
Laio said during the discussion that he was worried about corrupt officials, who he said were worse than gangsters.
"If we do not face this problem and solve it immediately, Taiwanese society will become very dangerous -- we will not have a safe country to live in in the future," Liao said.
Liao is a KMT heavyweight who has been approached by both Chen and independent candidate James Soong (
Liao, whose family is influential in Chiayi County, earned a reputation for fighting organized crime during his ministerial term from 1997 to 1998, when he was dubbed a "crack down on crime hero" by DPP lawmakers.
He was later forced to step down by Premier Vincent Siew (
Liao declared that he would never campaign for the KMT's presidential Lien-Siew ticket, but has not announced which other candidate, if any, he would support.
"I agree with the DPP's platform, but I still have not decided who I will campaign for," Liao said. He has also denied reports that he said he would campaign for Soong.
Liao cited examples yesterday of the seriousness of the "black gold" problem.
"Some candidates even carry guns and money, to threaten voters to make a choice [to take the money and vote for them, or be shot]," Liao said.
Academics proffered documents proving Laio's remark, saying gangsters and their relatives successfully carried out the strong-arm blackmail tactics.
This included threatening the government over bidding on public construction projects, thereby illegally winning contracts, and by running for office themselves to extend their political influence.
"Over 60 percent of Taiwan's 43 crime organizations have publicly elected officials. This means that crime organizations' members can control county councils and even the legislature," said Chen Tong-shen (
Then, scholars said, suspect officials act together with gangsters or crime organizations -- which have had their representatives elected onto assemblies -- to take government funds.
"To expand their privileges and protect their interests, some government officials have connived with organized crime groups. Therefore, to eliminate `black gold' politics in Taiwan, we must first find those officials," said Julian Kuo (
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