The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and pro-independence advocates yesterday condemned pervasive signature forgery and related fraud by members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which they said subverts Taiwan’s democratic framework, and undermines citizens rights to elect and recall political representatives.
Headed by TSU Chairwoman Chou Ni-an (周倪安) and Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵), protesters gathered outside KMT headquarters in Taipei, calling for KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and other top officials to shoulder the legal responsibility for the forgeries and other breaches of the law in his party’s efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
Chou and Chen in their addresses castigated the KMT as “full of cheaters,” as they wielded banners and slogans mocking the party for “engaging in forgery.”
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Chou pointed to the indictment and detention of KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), who have been accused of forgery and contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法).
“Chu and other KMT officials are the main culprits, for ordering local party offices to launch recall petitions and filling the quota of signatures of voters, which they did by copying names from party membership lists,” Chou said.
She cited the indictment as saying that more than 90 percent of the “signatures” in two KMT recall petitions “were found to be tainted by forgery, by KMT staff copying names from party membership lists.”
It is a stark contrast to the diligent work done by citizen groups — standing on the street daily to collect signatures and personal information from voters, she said.
“We must safeguard our democracy, and the best way is to make this ‘party of cheaters and fraudsters’ disappear,” Chou said.
“Chu still will not accept any responsibility, while he also launched an ‘operation patriots’ in an attempt to inflame hatred against other parties and citizen groups, and colluding with the Taiwan People’s Party and enemy forces to subvert Taiwan’s democratic framework,” Chen said.
Separately, Chu yesterday said the KMT is firmly against forging signatures and it respects judicial investigations, but it cannot tolerate the judicial system only investigating the KMT and not the DPP.
Chu said that the review of the second phase of recall signatures would be completed tomorrow and there are about 10,000 to 20,000 false, fake or transcribed signatures in petitions to recall KMT lawmakers, urging prosecutors to investigate those cases thoroughly.
Additional reporting by CNA
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