Alliance calls for greater electoral transparency
ISSUE: Seven of the candidates were involved in attempted sexual assault, indecency or harassment cases, and at least four of them are sitting borough or village wardens
By Hsu Yung-ching and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The Taiwan Go Go political alliance yesterday called for greater electoral transparency, saying that 107 of the 14,100 candidates for borough and village wardens have criminal records.
Such information is not included in election bulletins, limiting public knowledge of candidates’ offenses, the alliance said.
New Power Party Chairwoman Claire Wang (王婉諭) cited as an example the candidate for Wufen Borough (五分) warden in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖), Wang Chien-sheng (王健陞), who had been sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison for attempted sexual assault of a person who was incapacitated.
Representatives from the Taiwan Go Go alliance hold placards at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
If a borough resident had not brought the matter to the party’s attention, voters would not have known about the candidate’s conduct, as it would not have appeared in the election bulletin, the chairwoman said.
The alliance investigated candidates in 20 regions, and identified 107 candidates with criminal records, she said.
Kaohsiung had the largest number at 22, followed by New Taipei City with 17 and Tainan with 11, she added.
Taiwan Statebuilding Party Taipei City councilor candidate Wu Hsin-tai (吳欣岱) said that as of Wednesday, election-related offenses accounted for the largest category at 36 cases.
Illegal claims for public funds or false reporting of campaign expenses, and violence or intimidation each accounted for 21 cases, followed by eight cases involving drunk or drug driving and traffic offenses.
Taiwan Obasang Political Equality Party (TOPEP) Taipei city councilor candidate Lee Hui-hsuan (李惠喧) said there were seven people involved in cases of attempted sexual assault, forced indecency, profiting from premises that provide prostitution, sexual harassment, and stalking and harassment.
At least four are sitting borough or village wardens, Lee said, adding that in two sexual harassment cases, the victims were minors, while one candidate was found guilty of 13 offenses involving the sexual harassment of children and adolescents.
Borough and village wardens depend on residents’ trust and candidates for such positions should understand and respect personal boundaries, Lee added.
TOPEP executive Chen Wan-yu (陳宛毓) said there were eight offenses involving bribery and 25 related to illicit relocation of household registrations.
Green Party Taiwan general convener Kan Chung-wei (甘崇緯) said 19 candidates were involved in 21 cases involving the misuse of public funds.
Of those, 11 took actions for their personal gain or to benefit others, while 10 involved falsified documents, Kan said.
Another nine cases involved falsifying documents to use public funds for ineligible people, he added.
Taiwan Go Go was formed last year to coordinate candidates and pool resources in elections.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.