Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday paid a visit to Chen Li Shen (陳李慎), the mother of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
During the visit, which was attended by journalists, Chen Li Shen repeatedly asked that the DPP presidential candidate help expedite her son’s release. Chen Shui-bian is serving a 17-and-a-half year jail sentence for corruption.
During Tsai’s visit to Chen Li Shen’s home in Greater Tainan’s Guantien District (官田), Chen Li Shen said Taiwanese needed to band together and vote for Tsai in the presidential election to ensure that Taiwanese have better lives.
Photo: Liu Wan-chun, Taipei Times
Chen Li Shen said this was the first time that Tsai had visited and she was very happy, but she wanted to cry every time she thought of her son, adding that Chen Shui-bian and his son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), both loved Taiwan.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is playing “low-down and dirty” and is intentionally trying to keep the Chen family down, Chen Li Shen said.
She said that her health was not good and she wondered if she could weather the time waiting for her son to be released, adding that the fact that the government did not release her son after the court ruled that he was not guilty on many of the charges against him was distressing for the family.
Chen Li Shen said she hoped Tsai would win the election and that she would expedite his release, adding that she hoped Chen Chih-chung would be allowed to participate in the legislative elections in January.
The younger Chen lost his position as an independent Greater Kaohsiung councilor late last month after the Supreme Court found him guilty of perjury and sentenced him to three months in jail. He is now serving that sentence by doing community service and hopes to have completed his punishment in time to register for the elections.
Tsai did not say much in response to Chen Li Shen’s hopes, merely holding her hands and smiling, while saying that she should take care of her health.
Asked for comment after the visit, Tsai said she hoped the judicial process would be fair, adding that she had sent someone to negotiate with Chen Chih-chung on the issue of his participating in the legislative elections.
Chen Li Shen said her health would only improve if Chen Chih-chung was elected as a legislator, adding that he was shouldering a heavy responsibility.
“His father is in jail and his mother is in a wheelchair, and now he can’t even be a city councilor anymore,” Chen Li Shen said, adding that she didn’t know what the government wanted him to do.
“Though he is young, he’s also thirty-something years old, the same age when Chen Shui-bian was elected legislator,” Chen Li Shen said, adding that she hoped if Chen Chih-chung was elected into the legislature he would help his father.
Though Chen Chih-chung was not present during Tsai’s visit, his wife, Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚), accompanied her grandmother-in law.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
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