The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of vote-buying in Hsinchu City by providing at least 1,000 tables of food to residents.
The KMT held a year-end traditional Taiwanese “roadside banquet”-style dinner party on Saturday last week in Hsinchu, with more than 1,000 tables for more than 10,000 participants, the DPP said.
DPP campaign director-general Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said the KMT was attempting to buy votes by holding what it called a “thanksgiving” activity in the name of the KMT Hsinchu City Council caucus.
At a news conference, the DPP played video clips provided by netizens that showed KMT Hsinchu legislative candidate Cheng Cheng-chien (鄭正鈐) and KMT Secretary-General Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) strolling between the tables wearing campaign vests.
“The city council caucus had never held a ‘thanksgiving’ event such as this before. That the KMT capitalized on that theme to attempt to buy votes at this sensitive time is disappointing,” Su said.
The head of the DPP’s anti-vote-buying supervision task force, Lian Li-jian (連立堅), said that although banquet staff made efforts to prevent evidence of bribery — such as asking the crowd not to yell Dongsuan, Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) for “get elected” — “the chanting of the phrase was still heard,” Lian said.
The event’s host also specifically mentioned that Lee was attending in place of KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫), Lian added.
“Additionally, some messages sent out during preparations for the banquet were sent in the name of the candidates’ support club and said that the event was a ‘rally’ for Chu and Cheng supporters,” Lian said.
Cheng Hung-hui (鄭宏輝), the director of DPP legislative candidate Ker Chien-ming’s (柯建銘) campaign, said a 1,000-table banquet is not only a striking sight, but also greatly humiliating to the people of Hsinchu.
The event has set back Taiwan’s democracy by at least 30 years and is a public challenge to the law, he said, adding that since the population of Hsinchu City is less than 300,000, a banquet of this magnitude would definitely affect election outcomes.
Lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said the event was an unbelievably arrogant move by the KMT, adding that the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office recently publicized examples of vote-buying, one of which was providing free meals or roadside banquets on the pretext of a “social gathering” or a fundraiser.
Koo called on prosecutors to take action before the elections, emphasizing that post-election measures are not sufficient to curb corruption or correct the damage it causes to democracy.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS