National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
Chiou said he talked about tomorrow's elections with some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members but didn't provide any suggestions or campaign for any of the party's candidates.
"I am not involved in any of those things any more," he said. "Even if I were, it wouldn't have done any good because I'm just a party member."
Chiou, a DPP member, made the remarks in response to an inquiry filed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
All National Security Council members are banned from campaigning for any election candidate and offenders have to leave their posts.
The legislature passed the ban last January, following an outcry from opposition parties over Chiou's involvement in forming a campaign strategy for the DPP in last year's "three-in-one" local elections.
The legislature also slashed the council's budget by NT$8 million (US$250,000) and froze two thirds of its remaining budget.
The Organic Laws and Statutes Committee yesterday agreed to unfreeze the budget.
Chiou also rebutted Lai's allegation that his council was involved in publicizing the secret meeting between KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Lai claimed the National Security Council must have discovered the event by tapping Ma's cell phone and then have provided the information to DPP's candidate for Taipei mayor, Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).
Chiou, however, said his council did not have a phone monitoring system.
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