Supporters of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate for the Yunlin legislative by-election have received threatening phone calls, his office said yesterday, and police have been informed.
Kung Hsing-sheng (龔興生), secretary-general of candidate Chang Ken-hui’s (張艮輝) office reportedly received a cellphone call at 9:25pm on Sunday night from someone who threatened to “kill his whole family” if he continued to support Chang.
The police said they would investigate the complaint.
The alleged threat came on the heels of the detention of a borough warden on Sunday on suspicion of buying votes for Chang.
Prosecutors and investigators said they have questioned 18 people, including Dounan Township (斗南) warden and borough wardens, with 11 borough wardens admitting that they received NT$1,000 apiece to support Chang.
His office has denied the allegation, which it blamed on his rival, independent candidate Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元).
The by-election is needed to fill the seat left vacant by Chang Hui-yuan’s son, Chang Sho-wen (張碩文), who won the seat in January last year, but lost it this year after the High Court found him guilty of being part of in a vote-buying scheme organized by his father.
Chang Hui-yuan, who was found guilty of vote buying in the first trial, wanted to run as the KMT candidate in the election, but the party rejected his registration because its “black-gold exclusion clause” bars members found guilty of corruption in their first trial from standing for public office.
Chang Sho-wen filed a defamation lawsuit against Kung at the Yunlin Prosecutors’ Office yesterday, accusing him of making groundless vote-buying allegations.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) urged prosecutors to handle the case impartially.
Saying the allegation was just the tip of the iceberg, DPP spokesman Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who takes over the KMT chairmanship next month, to make his position known on the matter.
Meanwhile, the KMT said that it would choose its candidate for the Nantou legislative by-election via a telephone poll.
The decision was made yesterday afternoon during a meeting chaired by KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏). The poll will be conducted between Oct. 2 and Oct. 4 and the candidate will be announced on Oct. 5.
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