A recent investigation into allegations of bribery against the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Taichung mayoral candidate, Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), has DPP officials questioning whether it was politically motivated.
“This issue doesn’t look like it has anything to do with bribery — yet they are [wasting] the resources of police and prosecutors,” DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, referring to the event in which Su, while meeting with the coach and players from Shi Yuan Senior High School hours before they left for the World Junior Baseball Championships in the US last month, gave the group a NT$20,000 donation and promised them a dinner when they came back.
“They shouldn’t act rashly on this, as it could have important implications for the upcoming elections,” Tsai said.
Team coach Huang Wu-hsiung (黃武雄) was questioned by prosecutors last week for accepting Su’s donation on behalf of the team.
Su, a former minister of the interior, said he only wanted to encourage the players and give them some financial support before they left. The check came from a group of team supporters who had asked Su to present it on its behalf, he said.
“All I did was … represent this group of supporters to encourage our aspiring national athletes, but if the prosecutors should be questioning anybody, it should be me and not the coach,” Su said.
He also asked why his support for the team before their departure was questioned, but it was fine when his opponent, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), treated the entire team to a lavish dinner after they won the title.
“It almost seems like it’s okay when they try ‘to add flowers to the brocade,’ but I have problems when I try ‘to give a gift of charcoal in snowy weather,’” Su said.
Ministry of Justice regulations on election bribery state that gifts by candidates should be kept under NT$30. However, in revisions published last September, the ministry said cash or gifts given for activities, including temple events, weddings and other “cultural events,” should be exempted.
Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), executive director at the Judicial Reform Foundation, said since Su was not an official candidate yet — registration for the elections begins later this month — the regulations shouldn’t applys.
“Based on this fact alone, the investigation is completely groundless,” he said. “Besides, when we talk about bribery, it’s clearly aimed at money that influences voting behavior — something that is missing from the picture when we consider that the players are high school students.”
“What’s next? Are we going to start investigating politicians who give donations at temples or red envelopes at weddings?” he said.
According to the Taichung District Prosecutors Office, the investigation started after it received a public complaint about the gift.
At a separate setting, when asked for comment yesterday, Hu said there was nothing wrong about him in his capacity as the city mayor treating the team to a meal to celebrate its victory.
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