Draft Taiwan law could clear former president Chen Shui-bian of missing public funds
- The proposed legislation would remove the basis for charges that the island’s former leader misappropriated money from a special fund
- Chen was convicted in a separate corruption case, but is out on medical parole and could split the ruling DPP’s vote by backing pro-independence candidates
The bill, expected to be approved by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party-dominated legislature before the end of May, could open a can of worms that might disrupt the DPP campaign in November’s local government elections and the 2024 presidential poll, observers said.
Chen, president between 2000 and 2008, was given a 20-year jail term in 2009 for accepting bribes.
Chen was the island’s first president from the independence-leaning DPP and has always said the charges against him were politically motivated.
During a preliminary review session on Thursday, the legislature’s finance committee pushed through an amendment to the island’s accounting act that would retrospectively decriminalise alleged misappropriation of a special fund the president can use for state business.
