Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday held a closed-door meeting with former chairman Lien Chan (連戰) as speculation mounted that Lien might take over as chairman if Ma were indicted for alleged misuse of a special mayoral allowance and resigned.
While the two declined to comment on their meeting at Lien's office, KMT Spokesman Su Jun-pin (
KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday dismissed speculation that Lien would take over as chairman if Ma were to resign, saying the party would follow regulations and hold an election within three months if the current chairman resigned.
PHOTO: CHEN TSE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"Chairman Ma will stick to his promise and resign as party chairman if he is indicted," Wu said.
Wu declined to confirm whether Ma would continue to seek the presidency if he were indicted.
Wu added, however, that surveys showed Ma's support rate was still higher than potential presidential candidates in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), including Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).
As the probe into Ma's use of his special allowance during his tenure as Taipei mayor nears completion, expectations are high that the outcome of the investigation would be announced before the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 18.
Speculation has also mounted that Ma may be indicted as the former mayor stepped up appeals to the public to protest his innocence and even visited the Black Gold Investigation Center on Wednesday to explain that he had acted within the law when he wired half of his mayoral allowance to his personal bank account.
Several local media outlets also claimed that Ma would be indicted yesterday, but no announcement was forthcoming.
Wu admitted that Ma was worried about the case, but said the party was well-prepared to face the outcome of the investigation.
Meanwhile, DPP Chairman Yu yesterday blasted Ma for trying to appeal to the public by portraying himself as a victim of political persecution.
"Ma said he has no motive [to embezzle half of the special allowance fund], but this does not mean he is not corrupt," he said in a party event in Taitung.
Yu added that Ma had come up with five different versions of how he spent his special mayoral allowance since the investigation started and "if one of them was true, that means Ma told four lies."
At a separate event, DPP Legislator Wang Shui-hui (
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RSS