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 
 
TAIPEI 00004152  002 OF 002 
 
 
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 
------- 
¶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