A proposed amendment to the Election and Recall Law of Civil Servants (公職人員選舉罷免法) that would have barred people convicted of serious crimes from participating in an election was deleted by the legislature yesterday.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
The amendment had passed a second reading in the legislature on Oct. 26.
PHOTO: CNA
The amendment would have banned anyone from running in an election if he or she had been sentenced to 10 years in prison, life in prison or to death but whose case was still on appeal.
Yen, who is appealing a 20-year prison sentence for corruption and other charges, suggested last Wednesday that the amendment be reconsidered.
If the amendment had passed its third reading yesterday, it would bar several lawmakers, including Yen and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Her Jyh-huei (何智輝) -- who is appealing a 19-year term for corruption -- from seeking reelection in January's legislative elections.
Another proposal initiated by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) to allow different political parties to jointly nominate candidate failed to pass the legislature yesterday. Only 90 of the 196 legislators attending the plenary session were in favor of the proposal.
If the proposal had passed, candidates would have been able to run under the flags of two or more political parties.
The pan-blue camp had decided to boycott the TSU's proposal during cross-party negotiations earlier yesterday.
Asked for comment, People First Party Legislator Fu Kun-chi (
Amendments to the law that passed a third reading yesterday included a clause stating that Central Election Committee members would immediately suspend the election and reschedule it if a legislative, mayoral or county commissioner candidate died between the period of registration for the election and voting day.
Amendments to the law's Article 24, which stipulates that only political parties that have won more than 2 percent of the valid votes in the last presidential race or more than 2 percent of the votes in the last three legislator-at-large elections can nominate candidates for legislators-at-large, also passed third reading.
Parties that hold more than five legislative seats or plan to nominate more than 10 district and Aboriginal legislators are also entitled to nominate legislators-at-large.
The amendment would make it more difficult for small or newly established parties to nominate legislators-at-large for the January polls.
A coalition of civic groups demonstrated outside the legislature yesterday, chanting "the public mobilize, oppose black-gold" and urging people to call on the legislative caucuses to voice their opposition to amendments that would make it more difficult for smaller parties to contest elections.
Calvin Wen (溫炳原), a member of Green Party Taiwan's central executive committee, singled out Fu, saying he is a corrupt politician who was involved in bribery, black-gold politics, financial irregularities and stock speculation.
Describing the efforts made by the DPP and KMT as "audacious," National Teachers' Association secretary-general Kevin Wu (吳忠泰) said that it would be a "national day of humiliation" if the legislature revises the law to restrict the viability of smaller parties.
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