Taiwan ex-president’s son to run in city election

Chen Chih-chung, the son of Taiwan’s convicted former president Chen Shui-bian, has decided to run for city councillor in an important election later this year, an aide said yesterday. (File photo: 30 October, 2009)

The son of Taiwan’s convicted former president Chen Shui-bian has decided to run for city councillor in an important election later this year, an aide in Taipei said yesterday.
Chen Chih-chung, a lawyer, will run as an independent candidate in south Taiwan’s Kaohsiung city, a stronghold of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which his father once led, the aide said.
“He made the decision as many supporters of the former president hope that he can continue pushing for his father’s political ideals,” said Chiang Chi-ming, a spokesman for the Chen family.
The November 27 elections of mayors and councilors in five major cities are the last major polls before the 2012 presidential vote and are seen as a key indicator of voting intentions for the national ballot, observers said.
Chen cannot represent the DPP under the party’s nomination rules because he was convicted in connection with his father’s corruption case, Chiang said.
Chen Chih-chung was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on money laundering convictions last year, in a high-profile case that saw both of his parents receive life sentences.
The Chen family is currently appealing against the rulings at the High Court, which is expected to deliver its verdict on June 11.
The overall legal process is expected to last several years and is therefore unlikely to interfere with Chen Chih-chung’s political ambitions, Chiang said.
The ex-leader has dismissed his conviction as a political vendetta by the China-friendly Kuomintang government for his lifelong push for the island’s independence.