Ministry calls on Taipei to reverse election position

The Ministry of the Interior held a press conference yesterday urging the Taipei City Govern-ment to reverse its decision to postpone its borough-warden elections.

"We have officially received the Taipei City Government's document for the elections' postponement. We hope that the city government will reverse its decision immediately," said Liu Wen-shih (劉文仕), director of the ministry's civil affairs department.

The document was sent to the Executive Yuan, which oversees the Taipei City Government. The ministry held the press conference yesterday since it assists the Executive Yuan with such matters.

"The ministry will issue a warning to the city government asking [it] not to postpone the elections. If the city government doesn't take the advice, we will report the case to the Executive Yuan," Liu said.

"We might ask the Central Election Commission to force the Taipei City Election Commission to hold the elections on time," he added.

Lin Cheng-hsiu (林正修), director of the city's Bureau of Civil Affairs, refused to comment on the ministry's warning, saying: "The city government will comment on the issue after it receives the relevant documents from its advising department, the Executive Yuan."

The Taipei City Council passed the Autonomous Regulation Governing the Taipei City Borough Organization on April 3. The legislation calls for a postponement of the elections -- originally scheduled to be held on June 8 -- until a redrawing of Taipei's borough boundaries has been completed.

The city government has argued that changing the date of local elections is an inherent right of local governments.