TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Cabinet on Thursday (Dec. 15) put forth draft amendments that specify that felons convicted under any four of the categories of national security crimes would be barred from running as candidates in Taiwan's elections.
Amid the recent controversial election win by a convicted murderer for Miaoli County magistrate in November among numerous other cases of felons running for office for various parties over the years, the Cabinet on Thursday announced that it put forth amendments to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法). The new amendments clearly specify that felons who have been convicted of the following four national security crimes including organized crime, money laundering, gun violations, and drug offenses, as well as election bribery, will be banned from running for public office.
In addition, the draft amendments add a mechanism to remove fake audio and video to prevent their contents from affecting elections and improve regulations for election recall procedures. It stipulates that from the date of the release of the election announcement or the announcement of the establishment of the recall case to the day before polling, candidates can submit forensic evidence to the police department, and assist radio, television, and Internet operators to stop broadcasting, restrict browsing, or remove fake audio and video within two days. It also enables heavier penalties to be imposed on those who disseminate such audio and video and commit election libel.
The Ministry of the Interior stated in a press release that the amendments were made after a comprehensive consideration of factors such as the state of the relevant criminal behavior, the degree of punishment, and the seriousness of the infringement of social legal interests, the new amendments address "breaching one's duty and loyalty to the nation" or engaging in the manufacture, transport, and sale of drugs and guns, and luring others to take drugs or commit other "evil deeds." Under the new regulations, those who have been convicted of a crime, those who have committed a crime, and those who were involved in a felony and handed a minimum sentence of more than seven years or given a more severe sentence of more than 10 years will be prohibited from participating as candidates in elections.
The draft amendments also add that those who have been convicted of election bribery, including soliciting bribes in an election, bribery during the election of the head and deputy head of local (city, county, township) councils, and bribery in the party's primary election within the party, will not be able to run for public office.
