The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday rejected accusations that its candidate in March 4’s Nantou County legislative by-election, former legislator Tsai Pei-hui (蔡培慧), is a “parachute candidate.”
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Huang Chien-chia (黃建嘉) said that criticism of Tsai by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Lin Ming-chen (林明溱) should be measured against what he called Lin’s abuse of power to exploit the county’s finances and natural resources for personal gain.
Lin was in a conflict of interest when as Nantou County commissioner he appointed his son as a special assistant and hired another relative as chief office secretary, Huang said.
Photo: CNA
“Lin packed his family and relatives into positions in public projects,” he said.
Lin was Nantou County commissioner for two terms from 2014 to last year. Previously he was a legislator from 2008 to 2014, a county councilor for one term and served two terms as Jiji Township mayor from 1994 to 2002.
“Through these public offices, he hired his son and relatives to county government in flagrant abuses of power,” Huang said.
“As county commissioner, Lin exploited the people and county’s natural resources like a colony under control of his family’s fiefdom,” he added.
Huang also criticized Lin’s record.
“As commissioner, Nantou County’s population dropped to about 480,000. About 20 percent of businesses have closed. Throughout the county, many townships and villages have piled up garbage due to trash collection problems,” Huang said.
Lin earlier told a news conference at his campaign office that Tsai is a “parachute candidate” who serves “only her party’s needs, and she does not have local people’s best interest in mind.”
Tsai while canvassing responded by saying she served as executive secretary of the 921 Earthquake Reconstruction Foundation after a devastating earthquake centered in Jiji on Sept. 21, 1999, and worked to help townships and counties throughout Nantou recover.
“At that time, when Lin was mayor of Jiji Township, the funding for a local cultural festival came from our foundation,” she said.
A native of Nantou’s Yuchi Township (魚池), Tsai was previously a professor who conducted research into agriculture economies. She has also been a DPP legislator-at-large, during which time she said she secured funding to build road sections for farmers, and pushed to secure farmer retirement pensions.
At Lin’s news conference, KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Lin Chia-hsing (林家興) said that Tsai supported projects that harmed the environment and “has no popular support.”
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