The Legislative Oversight Foundation yesterday accused legislators who plan to run in the year-end local government elections of being “runaway lawmakers” and breaking their promises.
“It is just wrong that some legislators — who were inaugurated only in February last year — are looking to run in the city and county chief elections in December,” group executive director Yao Li-ming (姚立明) told a press conference yesterday. “They’re cheating the voters, wasting social resources and wasting taxpayers’ money.”
Yao said that by electing the legislators, “voters expected them to finish their four-year term. Being a runaway legislator is breaking that promise.”
So far, nine legislators from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have either expressed an interest in running in the year-end elections or have been nominated by their parties.
“First, the government spends a lot of money organizing the legislative election and pays NT$30 to legislators as a subsidy for each vote they receive,” Yao said. “Once they’re elected mayors or county commissioners they will get another NT$30 per vote, and the government has to spend more money to hold legislative by-elections to fill the vacancies they leave behind.”
CAMPAIGN
Juan Ta-fang (阮大方), a retired journalist who has launched a campaign to boycott “runaway legislators,” said the nine legislators had received a total of NT$20 million (US$600,000) in subsidies when they were elected and, if they win city and county elections, another NT$177 million would be needed for legislative by-elections.
“It does not make any sense that so much money and effort has to be spent just so that they can fulfill their ambitions,” Juan said.
Yao said the lawmakers would still get paid even though they will be busy campaigning and not doing their legislative duties.
AMENDMENT
“Political parties should refrain from nominating serving legislators for the elections and legislators should not take part in it,” Yao said. “We will also push for an amendment to election laws to ban people in elected positions from running for another position before serving half of their term.”
KMT Legislator John Wu (吳志揚), who has expressed an interest in running for Taoyuan County commissioner, rebutted the accusation that he was breaking his promise to voters.
“Are [the critics] voters in my constituency? Did they ask the opinion of the voters in my constituency? Most people in my constituency support [my bid for county commissioner] and they should not try to represent other people’s opinions,” Wu told the Taipei Times by telephone.
Another legislator, Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳), who is expected to win the KMT’s nomination for Hsinchu County commissioner as he is the only person registered for the party’s primary, said it did not matter if he was a legislator or a county commissioner, “because serving the people is my only objective.”
“I want to run for county commissioner because that way I can be closer to the people and react more quickly to their needs as I will be in the county rather than attending meetings in Taipei,” he said. “Running for any public office is my right as a citizen.”
DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德), who has been nominated by his party to run for Tainan mayor, said that he didn’t think it was a problem.
“Voters will decide whether this is right or wrong when they cast their votes at the end of the year,” he said.
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