Taiwan on Friday launched a crackdown on the main opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) over alleged election forgery by falsifying signatures in a recall campaign targeting politicians from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office summoned four top KMT officials for questioning on Thursday.
The prosecutors filed a motion to detain the KMT chapter chief, Huang Lu Chin-ju, the chapter secretary-general, Chu Wen-ching, the chapter secretary Yao Fu-wen, and the first district committee executive director, Tseng Fan-chuan, according to the state-run Central News Agency.
The authorities had searched the KMT headquarters in Taipei, along with the offices and homes of the staff members.
The Prosecutor's Office has asked for permission to hold them incommunicado on accounts of criminal forgery and violations of the Personal Data Protection Act. All four officials were supporters of the KMT-backed campaign to recall the two DPP lawmakers.
KMT Chair Eric Chu held a protest against the raids outside the prosecutor's office on Thursday, joined by party supporters. Chu called the probe politically motivated and announced plans for a larger demonstration on April 26 against Taiwan's leader William Lai Ching-te.
Separately, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, also of the KMT, on Thursday urged the legislature to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet, accusing the Lai administration of abusing the judiciary for political ends.
