The Legislature has finished the third readings of amendments to the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法). The long-awaited amendments prevent people convicted of certain crimes — such as organized crime, money laundering, gun smuggling or use, narcotics trafficking, peddling and use, and national security crimes — from running for public office.
Taiwanese should applaud the amendments, as they would help to perfect the nation’s democracy. It is undeniable that gangsters have intervened in Taiwan’s elections many times. If their harmful influence can be curbed by laws, elections can be carried out in a high-principled manner, given that Taiwanese are by nature kind and sincere.
As chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Vice President William Lai (賴清德) has demonstrated his resolution to bar those with a criminal background from representing the DPP in elections. For this, Lai gained support from the public in opinion polls. This shows what Taiwanese want: All gangsters and their affiliates eliminated from elections.
The amendments were proposed by the DPP. Given that it has a legislative majority, it was only natural that the party fully utilize its advantage and amend the law to eliminate the influence of gangsters in elections.
As Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) has said, a candidate with a criminal background should not be tolerated. The amendments are sure to go a long way to improve the quality of Taiwan’s democracy.
Particularly in local elections, political factions have been controlled by politicians who lack any originality. Their old faces and cliche slogans appear in elections on a regular basis. Some of those politicians are affiliated with gangsters and some even have criminal records.
Their participation in local elections is often supported by illicit money. When they conduct election campaigns, gangsters often manipulate the results, with rampant vote-buying. If such activities can be prevented by law, local elections can be free of corruption and wrongdoing. In this way, Taiwanese can also provide space for young people with fresh visions to realize their political dreams.
Civil servants are supposed to serve the public and the conduct of politicians should be held to an even higher standard. It is therefore perplexing that the opposition party strongly fought against the amendments.
The law should apply to all people regardless of their social status. If common people face penalty when they contravene the law, civil servants and candidates in any kind of elections should abide by the law more strictly. Given that politicians are a part of the state apparatus, they should be more attentive to the law and remain loyal to the nation.
Chen Chi-nung is principal of Kuohsing Junior High School in Nantou County.
Translated by Emma Liu
The return of US president-elect Donald Trump to the White House has injected a new wave of anxiety across the Taiwan Strait. For Taiwan, an island whose very survival depends on the delicate and strategic support from the US, Trump’s election victory raises a cascade of questions and fears about what lies ahead. His approach to international relations — grounded in transactional and unpredictable policies — poses unique risks to Taiwan’s stability, economic prosperity and geopolitical standing. Trump’s first term left a complicated legacy in the region. On the one hand, his administration ramped up arms sales to Taiwan and sanctioned
World leaders are preparing themselves for a second Donald Trump presidency. Some leaders know more or less where he stands: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy knows that a difficult negotiation process is about to be forced on his country, and the leaders of NATO countries would be well aware of being complacent about US military support with Trump in power. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely be feeling relief as the constraints placed on him by the US President Joe Biden administration would finally be released. However, for President William Lai (賴清德) the calculation is not simple. Trump has surrounded himself
US president-elect Donald Trump is to return to the White House in January, but his second term would surely be different from the first. His Cabinet would not include former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and former US national security adviser John Bolton, both outspoken supporters of Taiwan. Trump is expected to implement a transactionalist approach to Taiwan, including measures such as demanding that Taiwan pay a high “protection fee” or requiring that Taiwan’s military spending amount to at least 10 percent of its GDP. However, if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) invades Taiwan, it is doubtful that Trump would dispatch
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has been dubbed Taiwan’s “sacred mountain.” In the past few years, it has invested in the construction of fabs in the US, Japan and Europe, and has long been a world-leading super enterprise — a source of pride for Taiwanese. However, many erroneous news reports, some part of cognitive warfare campaigns, have appeared online, intentionally spreading the false idea that TSMC is not really a Taiwanese company. It is true that TSMC depositary receipts can be purchased on the US securities market, and the proportion of foreign investment in the company is high. However, this reflects the
RSS