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Committee passes seven-in-one election proposal

The legislature’s Internal Administration Committee yesterday approved a proposal to integrate seven local government elections into one in six years to save costs.

The amendment to the Local Government Law (地方制度法) stipulates that beginning in 2014, seven local elections — the mayors of special municipalities (Taipei City and Kaohsiung City); city councilors; county mayors and magistrates; county councilors; borough chiefs; township chiefs; and township council representatives — will be held simultaneously.

Tenures in some positions would be extended and others shortened to bring the election dates into line, the amendment states.

It also states that if the selection of township chiefs is changed into an appointment system before the amendment is promulgated, elections at these levels would automatically be excluded from the provisions of the amended law.

SAVING MONEY

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) and Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進), the authors of the proposal, said that the proposal was aimed at saving taxpayers’ money.

Hsieh said that local government officials and councilors all hold four-year tenures, but their tenures end at different times. Consequently, elections for the posts are held separately, resulting in a waste of public resources and low voter turnout.

Welcoming the proposed amendment, Vice Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) said the country had wasted money, time and resources by conducting so many separate elections.

Chien said that each election costs about NT$700 million (US$21.6 million) to NT$800 million, but by combining the seven polls into one, the government could save public funds and encourage voters to vote.

Presidential and legislative elections are national polls and therefore not covered by the Local Government Law.

The draft amendment still has to be reviewed and passed by the full legislature before being enacted into law.
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