Keelung mayor apologizes for ex-official's data misuse in recall case

Taipei, May 27 (CNA) Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) has apologized over a former Civil Affairs Department director's illegal accessing of citizen data to assist in recall petitions against local councilors from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Hsieh, a member of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), bowed deeply to DPP city councilor Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) during a city council hearing Tuesday and also apologized to the entire council and Keelung residents for Chang Yuan-hsiang's (張淵翔) abuse of power under his leadership.

The bow may have seemed belated, Hsieh said, explaining that he had been "surprised and saddened" to learn of Chang's alleged actions and was waiting for the results of the investigation to determine whether other officials were involved.

The case came to light in April as part of prosecutors' investigation into forgery in recall campaigns across the country, after the Central Election Commission found petitions bearing the names of deceased individuals.

These campaigns included petitions targeting DPP Keelung councilors Cheng and Jiho Tiun (張之豪).

Under Taiwan's recall law, campaigners must submit petitions signed by constituents in a particular district to initiate a recall against representatives in that district.

Following raids and questioning, Keelung prosecutors suspected Chang of illegally accessing Taiwan's household registration system to help revise and verify a KMT party membership list in the city, and they requested court approval to detain him on April 29.

Chang, who confessed to prosecutors to accessing the system, stepped down from his post, making him one of the first public servants to resign over involvement in the recall campaign.

On May 6, the district court also approved detaining Chang and holding him incommunicado.

Meanwhile, two officials at Keelung's Zhongzheng Household Registration Office were also interrogated and released on bail for allegedly violating the Personal Data Protection Act.

On Tuesday, Hsieh said the two officials were also expected to resign.

In response, Cheng accepted Hsieh's apology, calling it "the foundation of a responsible government."

Local citizens will be glad to see Hsieh finally apologize, she said.