The Democratic Progressive Party yesterday accused Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) of violating the law by campaigning for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taichung Mayor Jason Hu’s (胡志強) re-election during a government conference.
The council held a conference on Saturday in Taichung County to discuss the establishment of a woodcarving and forestry cultural park in the county.
Chen and Hu co-chaired the conference.
Hu said he fully supported the council’s proposal to establish a cultural park, adding that the government body should inject more money into the project to create a world-class cultural park.
Saying Hu always sought to have great parks or museums built in Taichung, Chen then pointed a finger at the mayor and said: “He must win the [Nov. 27 special municipalities] election. If he does not …”
At which point Hu cut in, singing: “Double, double the budget” with some participants in the room.
DPP spokesperson Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), who also serves as a spokesman for DPP Taichung mayoral candidate Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), said Chen’s remarks violated the principle of impartiality for government officials and may also have violated regulations on vote-buying, because he hinted that if Hu did not win, the council could decide not to grant the budget for the proposed park.
Asked for comment, Chen denied using the conference to campaign for the KMT’s candidate, saying he was only talking about building the cultural park and budget matters associated with the project.
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