The Executive Yuan is set to legalize joint presidential tickets by different parties despite the TSU's proposal to ban those not born in Taiwan from running for the presidency.
"According to the Constitution, any citizen of the Republic of China, who is over the age of 40, is eligible to run for president or vice president, regardless of birthplace," Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said.
As the nation's highest admin-istrative organ, Lin added, the Cabinet will do its utmost to put President Chen Shui-bian's (
Chen has come out clearly against the TSU's proposal.
The Cabinet is scheduled to review the Ministry of the Interior's draft amendments to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Law (總統副總統選舉罷免法) next week.
Under the draft, candidates of different parties would be allowed to jointly run on a single ticket in a presidential election if each of the parties involved won at least 5 percent of the total votes of the previous presidential or legislative elections.
As present, the law does not specify whether or not candidates of different parties can run on a joint ticket.
The draft would also allow the parties fielding a joint ticket to channel financial resources to fund each other for a presidential campaign. The amendment says that parties on a joint ticket would both be eligible for the NT$30 per vote subsidy that each party taking part in an election gets and they would be free to allocate the sum as they wish.
Next year's presidential election will be held on March 20.
Meanwhile, Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday requested Cabinet agencies expedite efforts to push the government initiatives in the legislature, especially a major job-creation project.
"Because the DPP does not enjoy a majority in the legislature, there are many bills awaiting approval, including the NT$50 billion job-creation bill," Yu said.
Yu made the remarks during a three-hour closed-door meeting with 20 ministers at his official Taipei residence.
He is scheduled to meet with DPP county commissioners and city mayors today to solicit their support for the job-creation project. He met with 20 others last Saturday.
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