New Taipei City Councilor Liao Yikun is accused of election bribery. Green camp people: a serious test for a key seat in the majority

DPP New Taipei City 8th District (Tucheng, Shulin, Sanxia, ​​Yingge) city councilor Liao Yikun was suspected of bribery by providing free kitchen knife sharpening services and hosting dinner parties. After the investigation and review, it was found that he was involved in serious violations of election and personal information laws, and he was banned from seeing the court. Liao Yikun is a political family inherited by two generations and has a good image. The bribery incident caused great consternation in the local area. Green camp insiders analyze that the impact of Liao's interview involving bribery will be critical to the subsequent changes in the local political landscape. Regardless of whether it is in this constituency or the number of parliamentary seats, the DPP will be severely tested if it wants to reach a "majority".

Liao Yikun's forest service office continues to operate normally today, and his wife obviously looks worried. The service office staff pointed out that if there are relevant results in Liao's case, they will make another statement. At the campaign headquarters on Zhenqian Street, not far from the service office, local friends still gathered to support at midnight. During the day today, supporters, neighbors and friends also came to care about Liao's condition. They were reluctant and surprised to ask, "How could this happen?" The campaign officials told supporters that they would wait for the judicial investigation. At 4:30 p.m., the campaign headquarters was still distributing streamers of "Ocean Current", "Huiju" and Liao. The distribution time had not yet come, and many people were already queuing up to receive them.

This year, the number of seats in the New Taipei City Councilor District 8 has been reduced from 10 to 9 compared to last time. Among them, there are 5 Green nominees and 4 Blue nominees. There is also the People’s Party participating in the battle, showing a fierce battle between 12 people and 9 seats.

Local people pointed out that Liao Yikun belongs to a two-generation political family in the Shulin area. His father is a former legislator of the Democratic Progressive Party and former New Taipei City Councilor Liao Benyan. He has strong grassroots strength, and the service team is usually very friendly to the outside world and interacts well with the local area. Liao Yikun has been providing kitchen knife sharpening services for many years. This time, the investigation of the dinner party and kitchen knife sharpening service has shocked the local government.

People from the green camp said that this time the total number of seats in the Tushu Sanying constituency has been reduced by 1. The competition is already fierce, and this constituency is crucial for the Democratic Progressive Party to gain a majority. First, nine people in this constituency compete for 5 seats. If one seat is lost due to the Liao case, it will not be able to achieve the majority goal in this constituency; secondly, the New Taipei City Council has a total of 68 seats for this term, and the DPP has nominated 36 people. If one seat is lost, all the remaining 35 seats must be filled to achieve a majority of the council.

Local sources pointed out that for most voters, the focus is not on a party getting less than half of the vote, but on voting. The integrity of candidates and the trust of political parties may be affected by involvement in vote-buying, which is a big test for candidates. This year, many candidates across the country have been investigated for bribery. How to define the "red line" of vote-buying is also a concern for many candidates.