2023-12-27 01:06:16
Legislator Wang Wanyu. (Photo / Newspaper photo)
Popular Party candidate Ke Wenzhe previously said that it would cost 10 billion yuan to elect the president, which sparked discussion. And how much does it cost to elect legislators? Wang Wanyu, chairman of the Times Power Party who is running for the Legislator of the Second District of Hsinchu County, said that it is normal for a regional legislator to have RMB 30 million to RMB 40 million per seat. In a fiercely contested district, the amount can reach hundreds of millions, and legislators cannot earn back the salary.
Wang Wanyu posted on Facebook, “First of all, there is actually a rule that few people know regarding winning the election, that is, our country’s elections actually have the so-called “maximum amount of campaign funds.” The calculation formula is as follows: the number of candidates in each electoral district ÷ 70% of the total population of the electoral district × the basic amount of NT$30 and the income amount + 10 million.”
Wang Wanyu said, “In this regional legislative election, the highest amount of campaign funds in the country ‘according to law’ is 19.819 million yuan in New Taipei City’s 1st electoral district (Tsui, Linkou, Taishan); the lowest is 10.288 million yuan in Lianjiang County Yuan.” Changing the topic, Wang Wanyu pointed out that the regulations do not stipulate penalties for exceeding the upper limit, so there is no upper limit. “For a small party like Times Force, it is certainly no problem to comply with legal norms. But if we use blue and green resources Generally speaking, the number of regional legislators to be elected is definitely far more than this number. According to statistics from civil society organizations in the past, it is normal to elect a regional legislator with 30 million to 40 million yuan. In some constituencies with fierce battles, the number of elected members is above 10 million. Billions are possible.”
As for why so much money is needed, Wang Wanyu explained, “Of course the biggest expense at one time is publicity expenses, especially the cost of billboards, which is an astonishing amount. Taking Hsinchu County, my own constituency, as an example, the starting price for a billboard is RMB 15,000. If you are at the golden intersection with the largest flow of people in Zhubei, “50,000 to 60,000″ is very common every month.” It is difficult to earn back following spending so much money. “Basically there is no way, the legislator’s salary is regarding 10,000 yuan. 2.5 million per year, even if various miscellaneous expenses and subsidies are included, there is no way to earn back the election funds of 30 to 40 million.”
Wang Wanyu emphasized, “Taiwan’s elections are really too expensive, which makes ‘money power politics’ almost an inevitable vicious cycle. Through this election process, developers and consortiums in turn become the puppeteers of politicians.” , seriously harming the deepening of democracy in Taiwan. This is definitely a political culture that we must change.”
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