Hualien chief's ex-wife appointment investigated

Chien made the remarks when asked by reporters to comment on the legality of Fu's appointment of his ex-wife Hsu Chen-wei as deputy magistrate of the eastern county at his inauguration ceremony held Sunday afternoon, before attending an interior affairs committee session of the legislative yuan yesterday morning.

Chien called Fu after learning of the appointment, but was told by Fu that he already divorced his wife three days before the inauguration ceremony on Dec. 20.

Accordingly, Chien said Fu's appointment of his ex-wife is valid.

It is thought that by divorcing his wife and then appointing her as his deputy, Fu is trying to manipulate the law. In response, Chien said that Fu might be crossed into a “grey area” of the law, and therefore his ministry will investigate to see if Fu and his ex-wife are still living under the same roof. If so, Fu's ex-wife will be disqualified for her new post.

Chien pointed out that it is against the law for the holder of a public office to appoint a spouse or a member of the family living under the same roof as his or her deputy. The regulation is meant to avoid conflict of interest, he added.

Chien said that as long as Hsu is still living with the Fu family, she would not qualify for the post.

He stressed that the relevant authorities will decide on the case based on facts.

Meanwhile, the Control Yuan, the government's highest watchdog body, said yesterday that if Fu's appointment of his “ex-wife” as his deputy is finally regarded as a violation of the law, deeming it a conflict of interests by public functionaries, then Fu will face a fine of NT$1 million to NT$5 million.

Chen Jen-hong, a member of the Control Yuan, urged the yuan to take the initiative to investigate the appointment case to see if it runs counter to the aforementioned law.

Fu, an expelled Kuomintang member who garnered 56.37 percent of ballots, or over 85,000, to win the Dec. 5 magistrate election as an independent candidate, shocked government officials as well as the media by announcing the appointment of his ex-wife as his deputy at his swearing-in ceremony on Dec. 20.

Also yesterday, Fu and his ex-wife yesterday jointly made an inspection tour of some eastern coastal areas hit by an earthquake of magnitude 6.8 on the Richter scale at 9:02 p.m., on Dec. 19.

Fu told reporters that it's the legal power of a magistrate to appoint his or her deputy, stressing that all the relevant procedures are carried out in accordance with legal requirements.

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