Cablegate: Kaohsiung Mayoral Election - Aftermath Lawsuit
VZCZCXRO8500
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHIN #4152/01 3530816
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 190816Z DEC 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3482
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6109
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0645
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1601
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5575
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 9832
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 7340
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 004152
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AIT/W, EAP/TC, INR/EAP
FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL TW
SUBJECT: Kaohsiung Mayoral Election - Aftermath Lawsuit
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.
1. (SBU) Summary: Following a KMT loss in the Kaohsiung mayoral
race by a tight margin to the DPP, KMT candidate Huang Chun-yin has
sued DPP candidate Chen Chu for violating election law by falsely
accusing him of vote buying just hours before the polls opened.
Kaohsiung prosecutors have now detained two suspects who admit to
distributing money to buy votes for Huang, though the source of
their funding has not yet been determined. With official election
results announced December 15, KMT's Huang is preparing to file a
lawsuit demanding nullification of the election. End Summary.
2. (U) On December 8, the eve of the Kaohsiung mayoral election,
the DPP released a videotape purportedly showing a campaign aide of
Kuomintang (KMT) mayoral candidate Huang Chun-ying distributing cash
to supporters riding on a tour bus to attend Huang's campaign rally.
The DPP immediately lodged a vote-buying complaint with authorities
against the candidate Huang. Huang's camp responded after the
election by suing Chen Chu for violating election law in order to
affect the election outcome by false allegations. Following an
initial investigation of the DPP complaint, Kaohsiung prosecutors
detained two suspects, Tsai Neng-hsiang and Gu Hsin-ming. Tsai
admitted distributing NT$500(USD 15) to passengers in the bus. The
second suspect, Gu initially claimed he was giving his own personal
money to the passengers, insisting no one asked him to do so, simply
because he admired the KMT candidate and wanted him to win. After
prolonged questioning, Gu confessed he was requested by his employer
Yang Ching-te to mobilize people for the rally.
3. (U) According to news reports, Yang Ching-te, a businessman and
a member of KMT Huang's "Benevolence Support Group," returned from
Hong Kong December 18 and reported to prosecutors. After an
interview with prosecutors, Yang was released on NT$200,000 bail.
Yang admitted that he had asked Gu Hsin-ming to mobilize people to
attend two of Huang Chun-ying's rallies, one in mid-November and the
other on December 8, the eve of the election. However, Yang denied
he asked Gu to distribute cash to supporters and stated all expenses
for the mobilization were paid by Gu. Yang also admitted that he
was asked by Su Wan-chi, the chief consultant of the Yunlin
Benevolence Support Group, to mobilize supporters to attend Huang's
rally. Su Wan-chi had already reported to prosecutors on December
15 and admitted that he asked Yang to help mobilize supporters for
Huang's rallies. Su was released after the interview.
4. (U) According to press reports, Tsai has no previous criminal
record, but Gu has been convicted previously of attempted homicide
and of narcotics abuse. Gu's statements to the "Liberty Times"
newspaper indicate he had mobilized people to attend Huang's
campaign rally on behalf of a former Kaohsiung DPP Legislator
because that legislator had helped him in his business.
5. (U) Prosecutors learned from passengers on the two buses rented
by Gu that they took money from Gu and were told to vote for KMT
City Council candidate Huang Po-lin and KMT mayoral candidate Huang
Chun-ying. However, these passengers who accepted the money told
the prosecutor that they considered the money was simply a way to
offset their expenses (lost wages) for taking time to attend a
rally. Some also stated that they did not afterward vote for KMT
Huang Chun-ying in the election. Kaohsiung prosecutors have
interviewed 45 passengers on the tour bus and listed all of them as
defendants. The total number of defendants in this vote-buying case
is 49, including Gu, Tsai, Su and Yang.
6. (U) Huang Chun-ying's office claims the videotape is a forgery
made deliberately in an attempt to affect the election result. The
local KMT has publicized the license plates numbers of the 270 tour
buses hired to transport supporters to Huang's rally on the night of
December 8 to prove that the two busloads of passengers were not in
vehicles hired by Huang. Chen Chu's office stated that they have
solid proof in the tape showing the vote-buying activities on a bus,
but that they would leave the case to the prosecutors' office for
investigation, adding that the vote-buying, although not ordered by
Huang himself, was still carried out on his behalf. Mayor-elect
Chen Chu has stated to the press that she does not believe Huang
Chun-ying personally was involved in the vote-buying.
7. (SBU) Given the narrow margin of just 1114 votes by which DPP
candidate Chen Chu won the election, immediately following the
election KMT candidate Huang petitioned the Kaohsiung District Court
to seal all the ballots so a recount can take place. The Kaohsiung
District Court's spokesperson Judge Tu told AIT/K that the Central
Election Commission's December 15 announcement of the official
election results triggers the start of the fifteen day period in
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which KMT's Huang Chun-ying may file an official legal request
demanding nullification of the election. Once the District Court
officially accepts such a case, the first hearing will be held. At
that time District Court judges will decide based on evidence
presented whether they should reexamine all or part of the impounded
ballots. Tu said the District Court judges should complete their
investigation and announce the court's decision within in six
months. Taiwan's Election and Recall Law allows political parties
to file only one appeal of the District Court decision to the High
Court. If such an appeal is filed, the High Court judges must
decide the case within six months. In any event, a case of this
type can not drag on beyond one year.
8. (SBU) One of Huang's assistants, confirmed to AIT/K that Huang
plans to file a lawsuit to nullify the election. The KMT will
request not only a vote recount, but also a check of the
registration rolls against the number of votes cast. Based on
statements by certain election day poll workers, miscounting, fraud
and potential ballot stuffing may have occurred at more than one
polling station. Chen Chu's office replied that the KMT just cannot
accept defeat. A professor at National Sun Yat-sen University
stated that the election is so tense and the vote margin so close
that the DPP would have filed a similar suit had it lost the
Kaohsiung mayoral election.
Comment
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9. (SBU) It will take time to see whether or not the recount issue
gains traction. KMT supporters remain angered by the election
outcome, evidenced by heavy call volume to the KMT offices and to
radio and TV call-in programs following the election. However,
people in Kaohsiung have not forgotten the results from the call for
nullification of the 2004 presidential election -- nothing.
Kaohsiung observers generally expect this latest nullification
lawsuit to meet a similar fate and the election results to go
unchanged.
THIELE
WANG