TAIPEI: A leading dissident who fled China after pro-democracy protests were crushed in 1989 said Friday he will postpone plans to stand for Taiwan’s parliament by a year.
Wuer Kaixi, who has been barred from the mainland since fleeing after the bloody Tiananmen crackdown and has been living in exile in Taiwan since 1996, had planned to run in a Feb. 7 parliamentary by-election in the hopes of dealing a “big blow” to Beijing.
But Wuer decided to withdraw from the February race in favour of the general parliamentary elections in 2016, saying he needs more time to “present my views, begin dialogues and seek support” for his campaign bid.
“I decided to run in the election as I saw Taiwan’s current most pressing challenges, one involving deepening its democracy and one involving cross-strait relations and I believe that I can contribute to Taiwan in the two issues,” he said in a statement.
“But I’ve realized that I cannot achieve such goals in just two short months and in the format of a by-election.” The by-election is to fill the seat vacated by Lin Chia-lung from the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party after he was elected mayor of central Taichung city in November’s local polls.
Wuer was number two on the Chinese government’s “most-wanted” list of protesters following the military’s crackdown on the Tiananmen pro-democracy demonstrations, which left hundreds, possibly thousands, dead.
Tiananmen dissident delays bid to run for lawmaker in Taiwan
Tiananmen dissident delays bid to run for lawmaker in Taiwan
France’s Le Pen insists party acted in ‘good faith’ at EU fraud appeal
- Le Pen said on her second day of questioning that even if her party broke the law, it was unintentional
- She also argued that the passage of time made it “extremely difficult” for her to prove her innocence
PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen told an appeals trial on Wednesday that her party acted in “good faith,” denying an effort to embezzle European Parliament funds as she fights to keep her 2027 presidential bid alive.
A French court last year barred Le Pen, a three-time presidential candidate from the far-right National Rally (RN), from running for office for five years over a fake jobs scam at the European institution.
It found her, along with 24 former European Parliament lawmakers, assistants and accountants as well as the party itself, guilty of operating a “system” from 2004 to 2016 using European Parliament funds to employ party staff in France.
Le Pen — who on Tuesday rejected the idea of an organized scheme — said on her second day of questioning that even if her party broke the law, it was unintentional.
“We were acting in complete good faith,” she said in the dock on Wednesday.
“We can undoubtedly be criticized,” the 57-year-old said, shifting instead the blame to the legislature’s alleged lack of information and oversight.
“The European Parliament’s administration was much more lenient than it is today,” she said.
Le Pen also argued that the passage of time made it “extremely difficult” for her to prove her innocence.
“I don’t know how to prove to you what I can’t prove to you, what I have to prove to you,” she told the court.
Eleven others and the party are also appealing in a trial to last until mid-February, with a decision expected this summer.
- Rules were ‘clear’ -
Le Pen was also handed a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended, and fined 100,000 euros ($116,000) in the initial trial.
She now again risks the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a one-million-euro ($1.16 million) fine if the appeal fails.
Le Pen is hoping to be acquitted — or at least for a shorter election ban and no time under house arrest.
On Tuesday, Le Pen pushed back against the argument that there was an organized operation to funnel EU funds to the far-right party.
“The term ‘system’ bothers me because it gives the impression of manipulation,” she said.
EU Parliament official Didier Klethi last week said the legislature’s rules were “clear.”
EU lawmakers could employ assistants, who were allowed to engage in political activism, but this was forbidden “during working hours,” he said.
If the court upholds the first ruling, Le Pen will be prevented from running in the 2027 election, widely seen as her best chance to win the country’s top job.
She made it to the second round in the 2017 and 2022 presidential polls, before losing to Emmanuel Macron. But he cannot run this time after two consecutive terms in office.
