The Executive Yuan yesterday proposed revisions to the law that would bar party primary candidates found guilty of bargaining their candidacies during the party primaries from running for public office.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
"Reform of the electoral system will help the development of party politics and construct a sound legal mechanism to sweep away black gold," Chang said at yesterday's weekly Cabinet meeting.
The Cabinet approved revisions to the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (
This bargaining could encompass agreeing with another candidate to stand down in exchange for money, vote-buying and vote-selling.
The draft amendments also stipulate that any individual who has been convicted of such bargaining will not be allowed to register as a candidate.
If, following the party primaries, anyone who has become a party nominee is suspected of vote-buying, that person may also face charges carrying sentences of one to seven years in jail or fines of between NT$ 600,000 and NT$ 6,000,000. In the case of someone who has already been elected to office, their election victory will be nullified if they are convicted.
The draft, proposed by the Ministry of the Interior, will soon be submitted to the legislature for review. If it is passed, prosecutors will be authorized to conduct investigations into any vote-buying in party primaries.
Following the DPP's decision to revoke the party membership of Wang Hsien-tang (
Wang, a member of the party's Taichung County chapter executive committee, was found guilty by the party's investigation team of trying to sell votes to candidates in the party's legislative primary.
Wang said on Tuesday night that he did not try to sell votes to Taichung County Councilor Liu Kun-li (
In response, Liu said yesterday afternoon that he reserved the right to pursue a lawsuit against Wang for his accusation. He also questioned why the party had made public that it was he who had reported Wang's misconduct, saying the investigation process was supposed to have been kept confidential.
Deputy party secretary-general Hsu Yang-min (
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