The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) suspended membership privileges for legislators Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) and Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) after they were detained by the Taipei District Court yesterday, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) announced, while Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said the party had suspended Legislator Su Chen-ching’s (蘇震清) membership privileges after he was detained in the same corruption probe.
All three lawmakers have been questioned by prosecutors a bribery case linked to former Pacific Distribution Investment Co chairman Lee Heng-lun’s (李恆隆) 2013 legal battle with Far Eastern Group for control of Pacific Sogo Department Store.
The KMT Disciplinary Committee is launching investigations into Sufin and Chen, and the result of those probes would determine if the pair lose their KMT membership, Chiang said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
He also called on the judiciary to be just and fair when reviewing the legal cases against them.
Under the KMT’s party charter, members have their privileges suspended if a court finds them guilty of corruption in the first trial, and their membership is revoked if they are found guilty again in the second trial, Chiang said.
“We have already fast-tracked the punitive measures,” he said.
The decision to take punitive measures if Sufin and Chen were detained had been made on Saturday, he said.
The KMT has conducted internal reviews after several incidents of its members being convicted of corruption and the Disciplinary Committee has been asked to look into measures to deter such acts, he said.
All party members should endeavor to refrain from such acts, Chiang said.
In related news, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday said that Cabinet members and other officials should not treat a government job as a fast-track path to riches.
“To be voted into power is not to work for our own benefit, but to benefit Taiwan as a whole,” Tsai said. “We should not act in ways that will undermine public support for the ruling party and the Cabinet.”
Her comments came one day after former Presidential Office secretary-general Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) resigned after Su Chen-ching, his nephew, was implicated in the bribery case.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
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