Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"The CEC's decision was merely an administrative order. The 18 city and county governments governed by the pan-blue camp would not violate any laws by adopting the two-step system," Ma said yesterday during a visit in Tainan City.
The CEC on Friday said that ballots for the Jan. 12 legislative election and referendums would be handed out together at the entrance to the polling stations, ending weeks of wrangling between the pan-blue and pan-green camps over the manner in which the ballots should be handed out.
The KMT condemned the CEC decision and vowed to stick to the two-step system.
Ma said the 18 local government heads would exercise their authority and handle the elections their own way to ensure order during the vote.
"The local government heads will be well-prepared to ensure that voting on election day goes unhindered," Ma said.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (
"The two-step system will prevent disputes over election-related issues. Besides, the arrangement of elections lies within the local government's authority," he said in Taipei yesterday.
The 18 pan-blue local governments signed a joint statement pledging to exercise their authority according to the Local Government Act (
In response, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
"They can express their dissent, but before related laws are amended, they have to obey the decision, otherwise it will lead to disorder," Chang said when asked for comment.
The CEC ruling was based on the Election and Recall Law of Civil Servants (公職人員選舉罷免法), a law approved by the legislature and promulgated by the president. It therefore has to be observed to maintain law and order, Chang said.
"Furthermore, the law stipulates that local election commissions are supervised by the CEC, even though they are set up under local governments," he said.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
"The public will be put at a disadvantage and the nation will lose out as a result of [ensuing] confrontations," he said.
Hsieh said the KMT should stop setting the public against the government on every issue as it has done since the DPP came to power in 2000.
"The KMT will be in power some day. Don't act like you will always be an opposition party," he said.
Cabinet spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (
Shieh said the CEC had made its decision on adopting the "one step" voting format based on professional judgment and its experience in holding elections.
He said the CEC also took the principles of "simplicity and convenience" into consideration in reaching its decision, adding that the upcoming legislative election would be the first to feature the simultaneous holding of two referendums.
Commenting on the KMT's reaction to the CEC's decision, Shieh blasted the party for "lacking the spirit of democracy" and "treating Taiwanese with distrust."
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih and CNA
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS