The Ministry of the Interior’s plan to synchronize seven local elections starting in 2014 so they would be held on the same day received mixed reactions yesterday.
Under a revision to the Local Government Act (地方制度法) proposed by the ministry, elections for special municipalities and their councilors, cities and counties and their councilors, as well as heads and representatives of townships, villages and boroughs, would all be held simultaneously beginning in 2014.
At the national level, the presidential election and legislative elections are held in the same year, although on different days, Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said yesterday, adding that the proposal could reduce social costs and the frequency of elections.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Ho Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳) voiced support for the ministry’s plan, saying there were many elections and too much public money was wasted on them.
KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池), however, expressed reservations about merging the presidential and legislative elections because if both polls were held in January, there would be a four-month “window” before the president-elect assumes office in May.
Some in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) camp called the initiative political maneuvering, though some said they would not oppose it.
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said the proposed timetable was “a mess” and it was a response to the KMT’s “fear of elections.”
“Taiwan’s democratization came through electoral development,” she said. “The frequency of elections in a democratic country should not be so low.”
DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲), who sits on the legislature’s Finance Committee, said that while he did not oppose the proposal “in principle,” he would closely monitor developments in that direction.
“The DPP could support the proposal if having elections [every two years] consolidated election resources and saved money,” Huang said.
DPP officials also criticized the KMT for what it said was giving government officials and the public the “perception” that elections are too frequent.
“The reason there have been so many legislative by-elections in the past year is in part because of KMT lawmakers who had to give up their post after being convicted of corruption,” DPP spokesperson Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said.
The frequency of elections in Taiwan hit the headlines following Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang’s (楊志良) decision to resign over a controversy caused by a proposal to increase the premium rates for the cash-strapped National Health Insurance program.
Yaung said that despite the program’s rising deficit, electoral considerations were behind the government’s inability to increase insurance premiums. He said that frequent polls “are bringing disaster upon the nation and the people.”
Politicians are traditionally reluctant to support unpopular government policies at election time as they fear doing so will cost them votes. Jiang yesterday said this problem could be addressed by holding several elections simultaneously.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
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