A number of politicians in the south are facing convictions or indictments that threaten their careers in public office.
Taitung County Council head of personnel Chen Kun-chih (陳坤池) on Monday said that independent councilor Chang Shun-cheng (張順成) would be removed from his post once the council receives the Ministry of the Interior’s formal notification of the verdict in a case of alleged vote buying.
The ministry has received the Supreme Court’s ruling to reject Chang’s appeal against a guilty verdict rendered by a lower court, making the lower court’s ruling final, Chen said.
Chang, a retired police officer, was sentenced to three years and two months in prison and his wife three years and three months for paying NT$2,000 (US$61.10) per vote during a by-election in November 2012.
He lost the seat after prosecutors indicted him on vote-buying charges, but he managed to win the seat again in local elections in November last year.
The Taitung County Election Commission said a by-election for Chang’s seat would be held once it is formally notified of the ruling.
Meanwhile, the Pingtung District Court invalidated the election of independent Pingtung County Councilor Lu Wen-jui (盧文瑞) over his alleged involvement in a joint vote-buying campaign during last year’s elections.
Lu, who was accused of joining with two other candidates and paying NT$2,000 per voter, denied the allegation and said he would appeal the court’s ruling.
Also in Pingtung, prosecutors indicted Mudan Township (牡丹) Mayor Chen Ying-ming (陳英銘) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly taking kickbacks from contractors totaling NT$22.13 million.
Chen, who had been detained since early October, was released on NT$300,000 bail after the indictment was handed down.
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