Ministry mulling date for ending terms of office

The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday revealed plans to introduce a fixed termination date for the four-year terms of all elected local-government officials in order to reduce the number of elections for such officials to one every four years.

The move could result in the posts of all elected local government personnel terminating on May 20 every four years, the date decided by the Cabinet earlier this year for termination of the terms of all elected national-government politicians, although the terms of -- and hence elections for -- local and central government personnel will be fixed at intervals of two years apart, resulting in such elections being held every two years. The other date being considered for ending local-government officials' terms is Dec. 25.

Vice Minister of the Interior Hsu Ing-shen (許應深), told the Legislative Yuan's Home and Nations Committee that the MOI plans to establish a fixed termination date of either Dec. 25 or May 20 for the terms of all local-government elected posts, including the mayors of special municipalities, county commissioners, city mayors, local councilors and village and borough chiefs -- with effect from either Dec. 25, 2006, or May 20, 2007.

Any decision to make Dec. 25 the termination date could be implemented without revision of existing regulations. The MOI believes that as long as Article 83 of the Law on Local Government Systems -- which stipulates that elections for local mayors, commissioners, councilors, village and borough chiefs can be postponed in the event of "special incidents" -- exists, a Dec.25 cut-off date would be easy to implement.

The date is not the ministry's preferred choice as it would coincide with the legislature's budget review process.

The May 20 date, however, would require revision of existing regulations because the terms of office of some officials would have to be shortened. If May 20 is chosen, both national and local elections would be held on that date every four years, but at two-year intervals from one another.

The Cabinet decided earlier this year that the terms of office of all officials elected to national-government will end on May 20, the date on which, every four years, the term of the president has always terminated.

The final decision on the exact date of local elections would be made by the Cabinet, Hsu said.

The move came in response to a decision reached in January by the Government Reform Committee, a consultative body to the president, which said national and local elections should be held only once every four years.

In yesterday's meeting, Hsu said that since merging the elections of national-government posts -- those for legislators and the president -- to happen on the same day, would involve constitutional amendments, the MOI will consider how to do it after the Cabinet has made its decision on the date for local elections.

"The terms of legislators and the president are different. Merging the two elections together would require amendments to the Constitution to extend legislators' terms from the current three years to four years," Hsu explained.