The Special Investigation Division (SID) will conduct an investigation into possible violations of election laws by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), amid allegations that it is pressuring presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) to withdraw from the race, Prosecutor-General Yen Ta-ho (顏大和) said yesterday
SID Director Kuo Wen-tung (郭文東) said that the division would open an official probe as soon as he receives notification from the prosecutor-general’s office.
Yen said that in accordance with the Court Organic Act (法院組織法), the case falls under the purview of the SID, a division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) on Wednesday last week filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office accusing the KMT of contravening the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) by offering Hung financial incentives as a condition for withdrawing in favor of a new candidate to be nominated by the party.
Chen accused KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and party Secretary-General Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) of “politically scheming” to convince Hung to drop out by offering money, a post-election government position or other enticements.
Chen alleged that the KMT has violated Article 84 of the recall act, which stipulates that “anyone who asks for an expected promise or asks a candidate or a person having the qualifications of a candidate to abandon the campaign or conduct certain actions by offering bribes or other undue benefits” is punishable by law.
The following day, Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安) filed a similar complaint and asked the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office to conduct a formal investigation.
Chou said that although Hung has not registered as a presidential candidate with the Central Election Commission, she has been officially nominated by the KMT national congress and completed all due procedure for party nomination, and thus should be considered “a person having the qualifications of a candidate” as stipulated in the law.
The KMT’s Central Standing Committee on Wednesday last week decided to hold extempore party congress on Saturday to replace Hung.
It took director Chong Keat Aun (張吉安) nearly a decade to complete Snow in Midsummer (五月雪), a deft chronicle of Malaysia’s May 13 incident told through one woman’s search for her brother and father. Although only his second feature, it led the field at yesterday’s Golden Horse Awards with nine nominations. Chong said it had been a struggle to get people to share their memories of the intercommunal violence following the 1969 national election, known among the country’s ethnic Chinese community as “513.” “My father, for example, would shut the conversation down if my mother or grandma even mentioned the topic,” Chong said
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A new poll of Taiwanese voters found the top opposition candidate for president jumping past the ruling party’s hopeful into the lead position ahead of January’s election — the latest twist in a drama-filled race. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had an approval rating of 31.9 percent versus 29.2 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ranked third with 23.6 percent, according to the survey conducted
A New Taipei City hotpot restaurant could be fined after a rat dropped from the ceiling and landed on a customer’s plate last week, the New Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday after conducting an inspection. A woman recently posted on the “I am a Banciao resident” (我是板橋人) social media group saying that she had been eating with a friend at Chien Tu Shabu Shabu Hotpot Restaurant’s Shuangshi B branch in Banciao District (板橋). “While still eating, a big rat suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, landing on a plate next to a hotpot,” she said. “Later on, a member of
RSS