Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of reviving “black gold” politics with a proposed amendment that would help party legislators whose election victories have been annulled to keep their posts.
DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) told a press conference that KMT legislators had proposed an amendment to the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (公職人員選舉罷免法) that stipulates that elected officials whose election victories have been annulled would only lose their posts after a third and final trial, with no time limit imposed on the duration of each trial.
Chai said the current law removes elected officials from their post after losing a second trial; each trial must also be completed within six months.
The Yunlin District Court on Friday annulled the election victory of KMT Legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) in a first trial. Chang's rival, DPP legislative candidate Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國), filed a lawsuit in January, accusing Chang of bribery.
Chang said he would appeal the decision.
“The amendment is aimed at prolonging the trials and helping KMT legislators maintain their posts. With such a law, Chang would be able to finish his term because the final verdict would be delayed indefinitely,” Chai said.
Of the 60 KMT lawmakers elected to local constituencies, five have seen their victories annulled, and the KMT aims to keep them in their posts by amending the law, the DPP legislator said.
By assisting questionable legislators, Chai said the KMT was attempting to revive “black gold” politics, or political corruption.
KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) shrugged off the DPP's criticism, saying the bill had been proposed a while ago and that both the KMT and the DPP could deliberate over how to amend the law.
Lin accused the DPP of attempting to discredit the KMT, saying a single legislator's proposal did not reflect the stance of the entire caucus on amending the law.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Passengers aboard Korean Airlines Flight KE189 arrived in Taichung safely yesterday after a scare the previous day encountering uncontrolled decompression, which injured 13 passengers. Flight KE189 departed from Incheon at 4:45pm on Saturday bound for Taichung with 125 passengers on board. The flight was above Jeju Island when a fault in the pressurization system occurred 50 minutes after takeoff. Online flight tracker Flightradar24’s data show that the plane dropped more than 8,000 meters within 15 minutes, before it returned and landed back at Incheon Airport at 19:38pm. Thirteen passengers on board had a headache or earache due to the incident and were hospitalized. A different
China might seek to isolate Taiwan and weaken its economy through a “quarantine,” which would make it difficult for the US to respond and force Taipei to negotiate on unification, CNN reported on Saturday. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “increasingly bellicose actions” toward Taiwan have heightened concerns that Beijing would use its military against Taiwan, it said, citing a report by think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). However, China might choose to initiate a quarantine, rather than a military invasion of Taiwan, to avoid US involvement, it said. “A quarantine [is] a law enforcement-led operation to control
A new message broadcast on the Taipei MRT’s Wenhu (Brown) Line urging passengers to yield their seats to those in need, not necessarily elderly people, would be extended to other MRT lines and public transportation in the capital, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday. Chiang was responding to reporters’ questions on the sidelines of a news conference at Taipei City Hall promoting healthy walking. Several disputes over priority seats on public transportation have recently been reported, sparking debate about who qualifies to sit in them, as most of the cases involved elderly people asking young people to give up their