The central government has been outmaneuvered and embarrassed by a renegade county commissioner, but would prevail in the end through legal means, officials said yesterday.
Taitung County Commissioner Wu Chun-li (
"Nobody is allowed to challenge the law. What Wu has done, including his fake `divorce' with his wife, sets a bad example for the public," Yao said.
Yao made his remarks during a press conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning. Yao said that the central government was handling Wu's case by following the law, but that Wu's appointment of his wife as deputy was truly unexpected.
The minister said that as Wu had been suspended upon being sworn in as commissioner, he did not have the right to appoint a deputy.
Under these circumstances, the government will appoint an acting commissioner to do his job temporarily, he said.
Yao quoted Premier Frank Hsieh (
Wu was convicted of corruption by the Taiwan High Court but has appealed the ruling. In the meantime, he has also been charged with vote-buying and is currently out on NT$1 million (US$29,800) bail.
By law, Wu would be immediately suspended from his position upon his swearing-in. Knowing this, Wu divorced his wife Kuang Li-chen (
Wu appointed Kuang before Minister of the Council of Indigenous Peoples Walis Pelin (
However, Pelin said that Wu's suspension was effective immediately upon his being sworn in and that he therefore did not have the right to name a deputy.
The Taitung County Government said that Kuang and its Secretary-General Lai Shun-hsien (
Although Wu is suspended, he can still run in a by-election by resigning and retaking the oath of office if re-elected.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday that Wu's appointment of his spouse as his deputy was illegal and the public should support the government's move to suspend him from the post.
DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (
Even though Wu thought his actions were valid, Hsu said that he had violated the Public Officials Conflict of Interest Prevention Law (
Although Wu divorced his wife on Monday, Hsu said that it should be considered invalid because it violates Article 87 of the civil code for plotting a fake divorce.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
RSS