The Ministry of the Interior yesterday released outlines of two alternative working draft proposals to reduce the frequency of elections in Taiwan
The move came in response to a conclusion reached by the Government Reform Committee, that said national and local elections should each be held only once every four years.
The reform committee, a consultative body to the president, made its recommendation on Monday.
Elections for township chiefs and village representatives will cease in 2006, after which they will become appointed positions.
In both proposals, in accordance with the committee's recommendations, elections to national posts -- those of legislator and president -- would be held on the same day, while elections for all local posts, including county commissioners, city mayors, local councilors, and village and borough chiefs, would all be held on a different day.
The interior ministry drafts aim to reschedule the terms and election dates of all public officials. The differences between the two lie in their proposals for the dates of local elections.
One draft sets the election date for local elections as Dec 25. This could be implemented without revision of existing regulations. The date, however, is considered as not ideal by the interior ministry, since that period would overlap with the Legislative Yuan's budget reviews.
Vice Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) said that as long as Article 83 of the Law on Local Government Systems -- which stipulates that elections of local mayors, commissioners, councilors, village and borough chiefs can be postponed in the event of "special incidents" -- were upheld, this approach would be viable.
* Two drafts have been put forward by the ministry, which differ only in the date they specify for local-level elections.
* The draft which would be easiest to implement specifies that local elections be held on Christmas Day, while national elections would be held on May 20.
* The second draft proposes that national and local elections be on May 20, but that they be held in different years.
The second draft sets the election date for national and local elections as May 20 but in different years, and would require revision of existing regulations to shorten the terms of office of some officials. Under this proposal, the first joint national election would be held in 2008, and the first joint local election in 2010.
To hold national elections on the same day, the term of office of legislators elected to the sixth Legislative Yuan in 2004 would be extended to three years, three months and 20 days. Legislators' terms of office would be extended to four years with effect from the beginning of the seventh Legislative Yuan in 2008.
Lee said that the ministry would complete analysis of the implications of the two drafts and the regulation revisions that they would require within a month, before sending the two final drafts as alternative options to the Executive Yuan.
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