A proposed amendment to bar people convicted of certain crimes from running for office was too far-reaching, a legislator said on Saturday.
The Cabinet’s proposed amendment to Article 26 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), which stipulates offenses for which a candidate would be barred from elections, would add money laundering, gun and drug charges to the list.
Under the amendment, anyone convicted of corruption or money laundering, or who has manufactured, transported, sold, possessed with the intention of selling, or induced others to use narcotics would be barred from elections.
“There are a myriad of issues addressed in legal cases. That is why defense attorneys argue for things like self-defense, instinctive action in extraordinary circumstances and so on,” New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said.
For example, a janitor in Hsinchu City was charged with corruption after it was discovered they had given several of their company’s cardboard boxes to a woman from a disadvantaged household, Chiu said.
“Under the amendment, that person would be barred for life from running for public office,” he said.
Some lawmakers reviewing the draft bill are unfamiliar with criminal law, Chiu said.
“The common person is not so far removed from these offenses that are laid out in Article 26 of the act,” he said.
“In a society ruled by democracy and the rule of law, it is important to give people a second chance. This amendment might punish good people whose actions were justifiable, or who once went astray,” he said.
While some crimes stipulated in Article 26 have national security implications — such as insurrection, interference with elections and other crimes that “harm national interests” — some charges such as those related to drugs are not related to the operations of democratic systems, Chiu said.
Those crimes should not impede eligibility for public office, he said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said that legislators’ desires to eliminate the influence of organized crime from politics had “set the bar too high,” and would prohibit too many people from holding public office.
“Everyone should first calm down, and then deliberate on the issue,” he said. “In the end, the Legislative Yuan will make a decision based on majority opinion.”
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