Adding fuel to the spat over the Finance Committee, gangster-turned-independent lawmaker Lo Fu-chu (
Meanwhile, five DPP legislative candidates urged voters to boycott Lo, the self-styled "spiritual leader" of the Tiendaomeng gang, who is expected to seek a third term in Taipei City's southern district and vowed to remove him from the legislature.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
"The entire controversy is a set-up," Lo told reporters in his office at the legislature. "I unwittingly fell into a trap, just as they wished."
Lo, who was banned in April from the legislature for assaulting a female colleague, said that the DPP had deliberately picked a fight with him, hoping to turn public attention away from the slumping economy.
"That explains why the DPP has created a fuss over who should head the Finance Committee," Lo said.
He said that otherwise, the election last week of his lawmaker son, Lo Ming-tsai (
"That explains why DPP lawmaker Tsai Ming-shian (
"He is seeking publicity to boost his showing in the election for Taichung mayor."
It is the third time in two weeks that Lo has appeared in the legislature, though his six-month ban will not expire until Oct. 12. The controversial lawmaker said that by appearing in the legislature, he aimed to stand up to his foes.
He said that "a bunch of rats," fellow lawmakers, had turned the legislature into a circus in his absence.
To restore order, Lo said, he was considering setting up a "rat-busting squad" and disclosing the names of the top 10 villains in each session.
On Wednesday, he threatened to expose the dirty secrets of his colleagues from different parties if they failed to treat his son fairly.
At stake are his and his son's honor and prestige, rather than illicit interests as critics have suggested, the elder Lo contended.
A cross-party negotiation put the ball back in the court of the Finance Committee, which had earlier asked the legislature to decide the matter during its full session.
DPP legislative leader Tsai Huang-liang (
But KMT caucus leader Lee Cheng-chong (
With half of the committee seats under its control, the KMT caucus would try to take two of the three leading berths, Lee added.
Places on the committee, responsible for overseeing the Ministry of Finance and state-owned banks, are among the most hotly contested. A convener is charged with setting the agenda for the committee.
Also yesterday, five DPP legislative candidates -- led by sitting lawmaker Shen Fu-hsiung (
Lo, who was originally elected from the Taipei County constituency, has decided to transfer to the Taipei City south constituency in the election, where the five DPP politicians are running as a team.
The team of five, consisting of Shen, Taipei City councilors Chou Po-ya (
"It is impossible to free the legislature from the influence of money interests and organized crime, as long as Lo remains a member of the assembly," Kuo said.
"These five tigers are clean. There is nothing that can be used as evidence against us. We will block Lo's bid and eradicate that evil cat," Shen said.
"It will not be that easy to prevent me from winning a legislative seat," said Lo, who has yet to formally declare his candidacy. "The so-called five tigers may prove to be five bluffing dogs."
Kuo said if Lo succeeded in his re-election bid, it could create significant problems for the DPP government.
"If Lo could get elected through some unscrupulous means in the Taipei City south constituency, which has the most sophisticated electorate in all of Taiwan, that will pose a crucial test for Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
The five DPP politicians said something had to be done to free the legislature from the control of the "vicious minority power," calling for quick passage of a legislative reform package put forth by the DPP caucus.
According to the proposal, a group must consist of at least 12 lawmakers in order to form a legislative caucus.
Every legislative caucus has the right to send representatives to inter-party negotiations, where most deals are done. A caucus may be formed by as few as five lawmakers.
For example the National Non-party League, led by Lo, is a group consisting of six lawmakers.
In yet another measure included in the DPP reform package, each legislative committee would be entitled to select one convener only, compared with the current three.
As three openings are available in each committee, a lawmaker may currently become a convener with the support of just a small minority of colleagues.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
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