8 ineligible to register as legislative candidates: CEC

Taipei, Dec. 15 (CNA) Eight people have been determined to be ineligible to register as candidates in the upcoming Jan. 13 legislative elections, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced on Friday.

In a statement, the CEC said a total of 315 people have registered as candidates for regional legislators, with six of them being unable to run for the election.

Among the six people, opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) legislative candidate for Tainan Wang Chia-chen (王家貞) was determined ineligible because she was still on probation and could only take part in elections after April 11, 2025.

Previously, Wang was sentenced to seven months in prison for forgery, and could not run for the election during the probation period, according to the Public Officials Election And Recall Act.

Wang applied for provisional injunction and asked to stay on the list of candidates before the ruling was confirmed, but the Taipei High Administrative Court rejected her petition on Friday. The case could be appealed.

In the wake of the CEC announcement, the KMT protested the result and determined that the CEC did not make its judgement based on the principle of non-retroactivity of the law, while also violating the legitimate expectation.

In a statement, the KMT said the act had not been amended when Wang was put on probation on June 2. However, it was amended a few days later stating that an individual cannot run for the public office when on probation.

The party said it will continue to support Wang's appeal following the announcement on Friday.

Meanwhile, legislative candidate for Kaohsiung's seventh electoral district Chu Lei (朱磊), who was born in China and lived in Hong Kong, and registered his household registration in Taiwan in 2017, was also unable to register as a legislative candidate.

According to the CEC, since Chu has not lived in Taiwan for 10 full years, he could not run for the public office in accordance with Article 16 of the Laws and Regulations Regarding Hong Kong & Macao Affairs.

Four other people who were ineligible to register as a regional legislative candidate included Lan Hsin-chi (藍信祺), a candidate for Taipei's second electoral district; Huang Hsiu-lung (黃秀龍), a candidate for Hsinchu's second electoral district; Kinmen's legislative candidate Ou Yang Yi-hsiung (歐陽儀雄); and Pingtung's first electoral district legislative candidate Cheng Ching (鄭清).

The CEC said Lan, Huang and Ou Yang were all in violation of the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act, and were given jail terms by the courts. As a result, they could not register in accordance with the Public Officials Election And Recall Act.

Meanwhile, Cheng could not make registration because he was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison in accordance with the Criminal Code, and thus could not run for the public office under the Act, the CEC said.

In terms of the Indigenous legislative candidates, a total of 10 people had completed their registration, and only one person -- Hung Tsao Chun-ming (洪曹純明) -- was not eligible to register because he violated the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act, and was sentenced to two years in prison.

As for the legislator-at-large election, a total of 16 parties proposed 178 candidates for registration, and only one person -- Chang Hsing-sung (張幸松) -- was not eligible to register.

The CEC said Chang had violated Article 90 of the Public officials Election And Recall Act, and was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison, and given three years of probation period. Chang was also deprived of civil rights for a year.

The CEC is set to draw lots for placement on legislative ballots on Dec. 20, and will announce the list of candidates for legislative elections on Jan. 2, 2024.