"Apparently," Cheng said, "President Ma Ying-jeou's government has violated administrative neutrality by deciding to assign Hsu as board chairman of Taipei 101."

The Ministry of Finance has jurisdiction over the management of the world's tallest building.

Hsu withdrew from the Kuomintang primary in Yunlin to let his rival Chang Li-shan run for nomination unopposed last Tuesday. In exchange, he was given the Taipei 101 job, only briefly.

Hours after he had been told of his new assignment, Su Jun-pin, Cabinet spokesman, said Premier Liu Chao-shiuan did not approve Hsu's appointment. Hsu did not get the lucrative job. "Such an arrangement," Chen said, "violates Article 97 of the Election and Recall of Public Office Holders and Article 6 of the Act on Administrative Neutrality of Public Functionaries."

If prosecuted, tried and convicted, offenders may be sentenced to not more than 10 years but no less than three years in prison.