Newly elected Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi’s (傅崑萁) appointment of his ex-wife as deputy commissioner is illegal, Minister of the Interior (MOI) Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said yesterday.
Jiang made the remarks after a meeting with officials from the Executive Yuan, the Central Personnel Administration, the Control Yuan and the Ministry of Justice.
Fu, elected Hualien County commissioner on Dec. 5 as an independent after being ousted from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), assumed office on Sunday and announced that his former wife, Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚), would serve as deputy commissioner.
He said they had completed divorce proceedings three days earlier. Divorces can be completed at a household registration office once a couple presents an agreement signed by two witnesses.
The MOI initially said Fu may have violated Article 7 of the Public Officials Conflict of Interest Prevention Act (公職人員利益衝突迴避法), which bans public officials from taking advantage of their power to benefit themselves, their spouses or family members living under the same roof.
Jiang said that Fu and Hsu were still married because their divorce was deemed “fake,” adding that Fu’s appointment of Hsu was illegal.
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