Speculation of vote-buying in the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) legislative primary was rife yesterday, with Zanadau majority shareholder Su Hui-chen (蘇惠珍) accusing Sunny Bank chairwoman Hsueh Ling (薛凌) of involvement in election bribery.
Su said she had proof that Hsueh extended loans to a fellow DPP lawmaker in exchange for party members' vote in the primary elections.
Su, a former DPP member, said she had helped buy votes for Hsueh's husband, DPP Legislator Chen Sheng-hung (陳勝宏), three years ago and that this time the couple had used the same method of granting excess loans as a bribe.
Su accused Hsueh of breach of trust for extending excess loans amounting to hundreds of millions of NT dollars through Sunny Bank to DPP Legislator Lin Chin-hsing (
Lin sold the house back to Sunny Bank in 2002. Su said Lin also charged the bank an amount of rent that was unreasonable.
"Is that the way Hsueh said she has been providing service to her supporters?
How does this enable her to get the top place on the legislator-at-large candidates list?" Su said.
She said she was prompted to disclose Hsueh's vote-buying behavior because Hsueh, Chen and Lin recently called a press conference to dismiss any rumors of involvement in vote-buying.
"They should have felt ashamed of themselves. They put on a huge press conference fanfare to deliver their false arguments. That's just way too arrogant!" Su said.
In response to Su's accusations, DPP headquarters said that any accusation should be based on facts, and the party could only start the investigation once written documents detailing evidence of the fraud were presented.
Su said she would hand in the documents, consisting of records of excess loans between Lin and Sunny Bank, this morning.
Meanwhile, Su yesterday said she would request DPP headquarters to grant secret witness rights to party members who would testify against Hsueh under the condition of anonymity and exemption from party discipline.
Both Hsueh and Lin yesterday refuted Su's allegations. Lin said he did not take loans from Sunny Bank, while Hsueh said the accusation was merely Su retaliating about an election dispute three years ago.
Cabinet
Meanwhile, the Cabinet is considering letting the Central Election Commission (CEC) hold primaries for political parties in a bid to curb vote-buying, Premier Yu Shyi-kun announced yesterday.
"It doesn't sound like a bad idea to have an independent government entity handle the matter impartially and fairly," Yu said.
Yu made the remark yesterday afternoon in response to one of the questions filed by the media during a question-and-answer session at a government tea party.
According to Yu, the Ministry of the Interior and the commission have been working on amending existing laws to authorize the commission to hold primaries.
Yu also pledged to solicit opinions from all stakeholders before the Cabinet makes a final decision.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
RSS