Coincidences, Coincidences in Tainan

An absurd vote buying case in the southern city threatens the fabric of Taiwan’s democracy 

The Ministry of Justice announced today (Aug. 10) that three Tainan prosecutors and a spokesperson for the prosecutors’ office are to be reassigned as part of what it called a “routine” rotation. Regular though such personnel changes may be, the move is nevertheless rather convenient for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), as all three prosecutors had been investigating alleged vote buying by Tainan City Council Speaker Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) of the KMT in the Dec. 25, 2014, speakership election. 

But hey, coincidences do happen. 

It’s also probably a coincidence that the announcement comes one week after the Control Yuan voted to impeach Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for “gross negligence” resulting from his refusal to attend city council meetings and Q&As. Following the 7-2 decision on Aug. 4, the Control Yuan referred the case to the Judicial Yuan’s Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Public Functionaries. At its harshest, the Commission could decide to strip Lai of his post. 

My article, published today on Thinking Taiwan, continues here.