The Supervisory Yuan found that the fines were too low, and the Ministry of Interior was concerned about the penetration of virtual currencies into Taiwan’s political arena.
Legislative Yuan report points out: The proportion of penalties issued by the Supervisory Yuan is low
Central News Agency reported that the Budget Center of the Legislative Yuan recently pointed out in a report that in more than 50% of the cases where the Supervisory Yuan has reviewed political donations in the past ten years, no punishment was imposed, and the rate of no punishment for potential candidates was even higher. The Budget Center believes that the Supervisory Yuan should comprehensively review the current regulations, especially whether political donations related to virtual currency and online platform Donate (donations, Dou Nei) should be included in the regulations to ensure that new forms of donations can be regulated and avoid becoming a gray area. .
Inspectorate: Recommended to the Ministry of Interior to evaluate the impact of virtual currency donations
In response to the contents of the Legislative Yuan's report, the Control Yuan immediately issued a press release stating that it is not the competent authority for the political donation law. If the law is applicable or there are deficiencies in the provisions of the law, the Ministry of the Interior must interpret or amend the law. The Supervisory Yuan further stated that for some live broadcasters who are potential candidates, such as accepting money from "Dou Nei" as political donations on platforms such as YouTube, whether such online platform tokens should be prohibited from being the subject of donations, the Supervisory Yuan As early as the end of last year, it was recommended to the Ministry of the Interior to discuss and deal with it. The Ministry of the Interior also responded to the letter in January this year, stating that it would discuss and study with relevant agencies.
Assessment of the Ministry of the Interior: Virtual currencies may become a channel for infiltration by foreign forces
After assessing the risks of using virtual currencies as political donations, the Ministry of the Interior believes that virtual currencies have cross-border circulation and if they are allowed to be used as the subject of donations, they may become a channel for foreign forces to interfere in Taiwan's political situation. In order to ensure the transparency and safety of political donations, the Ministry of the Interior believes that political donations should be limited to funds that can be immediately and clearly spent. Therefore, it has clearly stipulated in the draft amendment to the Political Donation Law that virtual currencies are not allowed to be the subject of donations. The draft is currently being approved by the Executive Yuan. Under review.
Promote publicity on the Political Donation Law, and the Supervisory Yuan strengthens investigations to reduce illegal cases
The Control Yuan stated that it has always adhered to the principle of "publicity is more important than penalties" when enforcing the political donation law. In order to help donors and recipients understand the regulations, the Control Yuan conducts multiple publicity through video, Internet and on-site explanations. The Control Yuan has established an "online reporting system for political donations" since 1999, and has continued to improve the system's functions, including the function of "checking the information of donors who are not allowed to make political donations", allowing political parties and candidates to run for office to quickly check after receiving political donations. Whether it is illegal or not, if it does not comply with the regulations, it can be returned or paid into the treasury, which will greatly reduce the illegal acceptance of political donations.
Check during the election: Large illegal donations returned
According to statistics from the Supervisory Yuan, during the 2020 presidential and vice presidential elections, potential candidates returned a total of 283 illegal donations, totaling 28.411994 yuan; during the legislative election, potential candidates returned 815 illegal donations, totaling 28.411994 yuan. 73,227,927 yuan. The Supervisory Yuan pointed out that according to Article 15 of the Political Donation Act, if both parties return political donations that do not comply with the regulations in accordance with the law, no penalties will be pursued. It emphasized that media reports that "the proportion of non-penalty exceeds 50%" may not be fully understood. The content of regulations.
Key points of the Political Contribution Law: openness and transparency, sanctions and penalties are only auxiliary
The Control Yuan stressed that the purpose of enacting the political donation law is to promote public participation in politics and ensure fairness and impartiality in political activities. Mainly by disclosing the accounting reports of political donations of political parties and potential candidates to allow public supervision, replacing excessive reliance on penalties as a preventive measure with transparency. Penalties are only an auxiliary mechanism, not the ultimate goal.
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This article is reprinted with permission from: (Lian News)