The New Power Party (NPP) has suspended the membership of Legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal amid allegations of influence peddling and abuse of power, party spokesman Lee Chao-li (李兆立) said on Wednesday.
On Monday, the Green Party Taiwan alleged that Kawlo in January had received NT$4 million (US$128,279) in green energy subsidies from the Ministry of Economic Affairs through two groups established by a former assistant and run by a current aide, but did not appear to have put the funds to any use.
The Taiwan Association for Indigenous Peoples and the Taiwan Associations for Startups and Marketing Centers received the funds to establish “clean” energy facilities.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Article 14 of the Act on Recusal of Public Servants Due to Conflicts of Interest (公職人員利益衝突迴避法) bans public servants and people closely related to them from receiving subsidies from or engaging in monetary transactions with government agencies or organizations under their supervision, the Green Party said.
On Tuesday, the NPP said that Kawlo had breached provisions of the Legislators’ Conduct Act (立法委員行為法) regarding conflict of interest and on Wednesday the party’s disciplinary committee met to discuss the allegations.
Kawlo attended the meeting, but declined to respond to allegations of influence peddling, Lee said.
On Monday, she had denied abusing her influence to obtain the subsidies.
The committee recommended that Kawlo’s NPP membership be revoked for contravening its regulations and tarnishing its image, Lee said.
If the party revokes her membership, she would lose her legislator-at-large seat.
The NPP would turn the case over to the Legislative Yuan’s Discipline Committee, he said.
Questions have been raised about whether Article 14 would apply in this case, as the groups applied for the subsidies months before the provision requiring bidders to disclose their connection to public servants took effect in December last year.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
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
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS