Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that he bears most of the responsibility for financial scandals surrounding the party’s presidential campaign.
The party would hold a news conference this week to explain the situation, Ko said.
The TPP has faced questions over apparent discrepancies in the party’s reported income and expenditure.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
On Tuesday, the TPP Central Review Committee expelled accountant Tuanmu Cheng (端木正), a party member hired to manage the campaign’s finances and report them to the Control Yuan, and Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), the campaign’s chief financial officer.
The committee also suspended TPP Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), who was Ko’s campaign manager, from her party positions.
Ko on Friday wrote on Facebook that the problems over reporting the party’s political donations have seriously damaged its image.
The TPP depended on small donations and the passion of supporters to contest January’s election, he wrote.
It was a surprise to discover that Lee had outsourced all of the campaign’s accounting work and that there was no auditing mechanism, Ko wrote, adding that this is what caused the mistakes.
“I had always said to ‘trust systems, not individuals,’ but this time I did not implement a financial supervisory mechanism and instead trusted a classmate who I have known for 50 years, which is something I need to deeply reflect on,” Ko said, referring to Lee.
The party has finished checking nearly 80 percent of the financial records, he said, adding that on Friday morning it sent an official letter to the Taipei Certified Public Accountant Association asking it to appoint an accountant to help attest the audit report.
However, critics said that Ko was shifting all the responsibility onto Lee.
Ko yesterday said that the situation was not the fault of one person alone and so far the investigation has shown no evidence that the donations ended up in anyone’s “private pockets.”
“I am the leader, so of course I should bear the most responsibility,” he said. “We will hold a news conference next week to give a complete explanation. I will not hide” from the responsibility.
Asked whether Huang would resign as legislator, Ko said that she was not in charge of the financial aspects of his presidential election campaign, but of course she has political responsibility that she cannot avoid.
She would do her part to resolve the situation and the party would discuss the next step when that work is completed, he said.
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