The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said yesterday it would give a progress report on vote-buying cases linked to Saturday’s local government elections at the legislature today, an announcement that drew mixed reactions.
The pan-blue camp said it hoped the ministry would increase its efforts to expose illegal campaign practices, while pan-greens doubted the effectiveness of the crackdown.
The ministry said the authorities uncovered 701 people involved in 101 cases of vote-buying between Sept. 1 and Thursday, as well as 39 people connected with 27 cases of election-related violence.
During this period, the ministry said it mobilized 108,791 police officers and 9,181 civilians nationwide to uncover vote-buying. It also mobilized 172 police officers to provide personal protection to 124 candidates and their families.
The ministry said more than 20,000 police officers would be deployed to maintain order at the polls and deal with emergencies on election day.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Policy Committee chief executive Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said the numbers were not as important as what the public feels about the government’s efforts to reduce vote-buying. He said he hoped the ministry would increase its efforts during the final week of the campaign.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Policy Committee chief executive Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the vote-buying situation was very severe. The fact that the number of vote-buying cases dramatically exceed the numbers reported by the ministry shows that the KMT administration has not fully dedicated itself to uncovering vote-buying, he said.
Meanwhile, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) panned President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday over heightened security measures on his trips to campaign for KMT candidates in his role as KMT chairman, saying the security efforts inconvenienced the public.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday that as Ma’s convoy was rushing from Hsinchu County to Taipei’s Songshan Airport for a flight to Chiayi for a campaign event, a loudspeaker was used to tell cars ahead of the convoy to stay clear of the passing lane. At the time, the section of the freeway was completely jammed because of an accident, the report said.
“Ma is trying to help candidates from his party get elected, but heightened security measures are defeating that purpose, because they cause inconvenience to the public and unequal competition,” Tsai said in Nantou County as she campaigned for the DPP’s candidate for the Nantou legislative by-election.
“This will only upset voters and result in a loss of support [for KMT candidates],” she said.
Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), meanwhile, urged Ma to stop “acting like an emperor making inspection tours.”
“Nobody would say anything if he had been equally anxious to help the victims when Typhoon Morakot,” Hsieh said. “But he acted like he was on vacation back then. He is only so anxious when campaigning for his party’s candidates.”
Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) apologized for the inconvenience caused by the presidential convoy. He said the convoy had driven in the passing lane rather than the shoulder because the shoulder was narrower and could have been more dangerous to use.
Security measures for Ma during his campaign trips have caused controversy before.
Last Tuesday, police and National Security Bureau agents blocked DPP Hsinchu County commissioner candidate Peng Shao-chin (彭紹瑾) and his supporters from using a street that Ma and KMT commissioner candidate Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳) were going to parade along. Peng’s supporters protested and the two sides clashed. A reporter on the scene also alleged the police harassed him ahead of Ma’s arrival.
In other election-related developments, the KMT said yesterday it would focus its efforts on winning in Yilan and Hsinchu counties on Saturday.
Ma, Vice Premier Eric Chu (周立倫) and Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) visited Yilan County last night to campaign for Yilan County Commissioner Lu Kuo-hua (呂國華), who is running for re-election. The trio have become known as “Ma-li-chiang” (“high horsepower,” 馬立強) for being the three most popular members of the party.
Ma will visit both Yilan and Hsinchu counties later this week to campaign for Lu and Hsinchu County commissioner candidate Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳).
“Chairman Ma will spend more time in Yilan and Hsinchu this week to secure victory in the two counties,” KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) said.
The KMT took Yilan County from the DPP four years ago, and the party is sparing no effort to try and win in Yilan, which had been governed by the DPP for 24 years.
Chiu faces competition from independent candidate Chang Pi-chin (張碧琴), who left the KMT to run, and has received support from Hsinchu County Commissioner Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金).
Ma visited Yunlin County yesterday to campaign for KMT candidate Wu Wei-chi (吳威志) amid protests from DPP supporters upset by police and security officials blocking the roads to pave the way for Ma.
Ignoring the protest, Ma accused Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) of involvement in corruption scandals, and called on supporters to vote for Wu.
“Yunlin deserves a change, and the county will only be better if it changes the commissioner and the party,” the president said.
The Dec. 5 vote will be the first major election to cover all parts of the country since Ma took office in May last year.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS