Скачать или смотреть Local council speakers and deputy speakers to be elected in open ballots

The Legislature today passed an amendment to the Local Government Act requiring city and county councilors across Taiwan to cast open ballots when electing their council’s speaker and deputy speaker. The move comes after the former speaker of the Tainan City Council, Lee Chuan-chiao, was found guilty of buying votes from DPP city councilors. Tainan City Mayor Lai Ching-te praised the move for helping to eradicate corrupt dealings within local government. Today’s passage of an amendment to the Local Government Act means that in future, the elections of city and county council speakers and deputy speakers will be conducted through openly recorded votes. Chen Ting-feiDPP LawmakerNow we can make the political affairs of our local councils even more open and transparent, and completely eliminate corruption there. The push for the changes began after the December 2014 election of the Tainan City Council speaker. At the time, DPP-affiliated city councilors clearly outnumbered those in the KMT camp, but in the end the KMT’s Lee Chuan-chiao was elected speaker with the votes of some DPP city councilors who broke rank. The result reeked of bribery, and Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te subsequently refused to attend question-and-answer sessions at the city council for 232 days in protest. Lai Ching-teTainan Mayor The sun of reform will now be able to shine on the field of local politics. Once local politics is cleansed, it might then be possible for central government politics to be cleansed as well. That’s why this is an extremely important reform. The amended Local Government Act, which now requires open, roll-call votes in local council leadership elections, will help to drive out vote-buying and corruption from regional politics.