The Central Election Commission (CEC) failed to reach a decision yesterday on how legislative election and referendum ballots will be distributed. Commission members could not reach a consensus during their three-hour meeting.
"We failed to reach a conclusion because many members believed that more factors should be taken into account before a decision is made," commission Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (
"We will consult with local election commission officials and local government heads and make a decision when we meet next month," Chang said, without giving a date.
PHOTO: CNA
AT ISSUE
The pan-blue and pan-green camps disagree on how ballots for the legislative elections and two referendums -- one proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and one by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) -- should be distributed to voters on Jan. 12.
The DPP's "stolen assets recovery" referendum seeks to force the KMT to return assets it acquired illegally during its decades of authoritarian rule.
The KMT's "anti-corruption" referendum aims to give the legislature the power to investigate allegations of corruption against the president and subordinates.
During the 2004 presidential election -- the first time a referendum was held alongside a national election -- the ballots were issued separately.
Some commission members have suggested that ballots be handed out together to simplify the voting process. Pan-blue politicians and commission members recommended by pan-blue political parties are opposed to the idea.
"What the DPP is trying to do is to tie the referendum to the election, so that the referendum voting rate can reach the 50 percent threshold as stated in [the Referendum] law (
Chao said distributing the ballots together could spark a riot, given the strong ideological divide between the pan-green and pan-blue camps.
"The Central Election Commission should be concerned with ensuring the voting process is smooth and peaceful," Chao said. "If no serious problems occurred last time when the ballots were issued separately, why should we change it?"
Earlier this week, 18 pan-blue local government leaders vowed to have the ballots distributed separately regardless of what the commission decided.
PFP VIEWPOINT
Chao said waiting until next month to make a decision was a "victory."
"It respects the minority opinion, and I'd call it a small satisfactory victory," Chao said. "However, if the commission votes next time, we [the opponents] will certainly lose."
Chao said a majority of commission members support issuing the two ballots at the same time.
A commission member who wished to remain anonymous said Chang was originally going to call a vote on the issue yesterday. The voting did not occur because another member, Chi Chen-nan (
No one could answer the question during the meeting so the vote was put off.
Chi later confirmed the scenario in a telephone call.
Earlier yesterday, DPP caucus whip Wang Tuoh (
"If that happened the KMT would not have enough money to buy votes and the party would eventually fall apart," Wang said.
The KMT's proposal of issuing the ballots separately would lead to a low voter turn-out for the referendum, and that's exactly what the KMT wants, Wang said.
KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) dismissed the pan-green camp's accusation that it was afraid that the DPP's referendum on recovering stolen assets would pass.
KMT Legislator Joanna Lei (
Meanwhile, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) asked why the commission would consider adopting a different way to distribute ballots.
"Issuing ballots separately is better," Wang said. "If this system has proven feasible, we should stick to it. Why do we need to make a drastic change that could cause more controversy?"
At a separate setting, President Chen Shui-bian (
They want the proposed UN referendum to fail, Chen said.
"At one time five ballots were distributed to voters together ... So why can't we do so again this time?" the president said
DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
"Given that altering the parties in power is a normal thing, it's not right for political parties to boycott the government's policies when they are out of power," Hsieh said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan, Jimmy Chuang and Flora Wang
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS