With the Dec. 3 local government elections drawing near, the pan-blue and pan-green legislative caucuses began tearing into each other yesterday, with both sides threatening lawsuits and calling for various candidates to apologize or withdraw from the race.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) called on Liu Cheng-hong (劉政鴻), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate for Miaoli County commissioner, to explain whether he has used a prerogative to default the payment of bank loans totaling NT$179 million.
Lai said that Liu had borrowed NT$50 million from a bank, after failing to pay off a NT$55 million loan from another bank when Liu served as the secretary-general of the KMT in 2003. Liu also stopped paying interest on a NT$85 million loan in 2002, making the total amount of bad debts about NT$180 million, Lai said.
Lai also asked KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to tell the public why his party nominates such candidates, and explain why Liu does not deserve to be kicked out of the race.
threats in nantou
Meanwhile, the DPP candidate for Nantou County commissioner, Tsai Huang-liang (
Lin yesterday alleged that Tsai meddled in the selection of the train communication system for the Taiwan Railway Administration in 2002.
Lin's allegation was widely seen as a political ploy, as his father, Nantou County Commissioner Lin Tsung-nan (林宗男), is seeking re-election as an independent candidate in the polls.
Lin Yun-sheng claimed that the railroad authorities had spent over three years and NT$40 million in planning and consulting fees, but changed its mind "all of a sudden" simply because of "concerns" expressed by Tsai.
In response, Tsai yesterday said that he did question the railroad authorities on the subject during a committee hearing, but that everything was conducted in public and in a legal manner.
While the railway administration planned to purchase an analog communication system, Tsai said that he thought a digital system would be a better choice, and hoped that the railroad agency would also consider the system.
Lai jumped to defend Tsai, saying that Tsai did not do anything wrong or illegal. Lai also called Lin Yun-sheng's accusation "improper."
"I'm calling on Lin Yun-sheng to stop imitating the KMT's dirty election tricks to smear election rivals," he said, adding that his caucus will not consider meting out disciplinary action until the elections are over.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
RSS