The DPP's committee on legislative reform yesterday decided to support the Government Reform Committee's proposal to reduce the number of legislators from 225 to 150 and to introduce a "single-member district, two vote" system for legislative elections.
However, disagreements still exist between the party's legislative members and the Presidential Office over the fate of the overseas Chinese legislators.
The Government Reform Committee, chaired by President Chen Shui-bian (
Aside from reducing the number of seats and introducing a new electoral system, the proposal would also extend legislators' terms from three years to four.
The onus is now on the party's headquarters and legislative caucus to push the proposals through the legislature.
The party's legislative reform committee, comprising Secretary-General to the President Chen Shih-meng (
The meeting was called to reconcile the three proposals of its legislative caucus with the Government Reform Committee's proposal on the number of legislators and the nature of the electoral system.
The DPP issued a press release yesterday, saying, "We think that legislative reform should include the introduction of a `single-member district, two vote' system. The number of seats shouldn't exceed 150, including six seats for Aboriginal legislators. And every county and city should have at least one legislator."
"Every party should nominate at least one female candidate for every four nominations for legislators-at-large," it said.
According to You, DPP lawmaker Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) proposed that the seats for overseas legislators should be abolished.
You also quoted Chen Shih-meng as saying at the meeting that the Presidential Office believed it was necessary to keep four seats for overseas legislators, You said.
You added that discussions would continue on this issue and the final proposal would be submitted to the Legislative Yuan on May 17.
Implementing the proposal would require the approval of more than 75 percent of legislators at a plenary session of the Legislative Yuan, with 75 percent of members constituting a quorum.
Elections would then have to be held for the National Assembly, now an ad hoc institution which meets only to discuss amendments to the Constitution. Three-quarters of the assembly would have to approve the bill for it to pass.
You said the proposals had a long way to go before they could become reality.
"We will try our best to seek cooperation from opposition parties, including holding cross-party negotiations," You said.
Responding to the DPP's proposal, a close aide to the PFP's secretary-general, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times, "Basically, we will not reject the DPP's request for cross-party negotiation."
KMT Caucus Whip Lin Yi-shih (
Meanwhile, the DPP's Central Standing Committee yesterday said it would announce its nominations for the Kaohsiung and Taipei city mayor elections on May 28.
It added that it planned to push for an amendment to lower the voting age from 20 to 18.
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