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Election chief sings Korea's praises again

"We can use South Korea's electoral organization as a good example of an independent organization, which holds an excellent public reputation and was able to impeach the president of the country."

Huang Shih-cheng, Central Election Commission chairman

Central Election Commission Chair-man Huang Shih-cheng (黃石城) reiterated yesterday that Taiwan may draw on South Korea's election experience to allow the commission to become a more neutral, independent electoral organization.

"We can use South Korea's electoral organization as a good example of an independent organization, which holds an excellent public reputation and was able to impeach the president of the country," Huang said at the Changhwa County Election Commission.

Huang said that an electoral organization should be independent and have an outstanding record of and good reputation for impartiality.

Huang has traveled around the country since the presidential election to visit city and county election commissions, to check on the ballots sealed after the election and lists of election workers and to show appreciation to all election workers for their efforts on March 20.

The commission is under the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan and consists of 16 commissioners, not including the chairman. The commission is designed as a permanent organization that is in charge of election-related affairs.

According to rules governing the commission, commissioners from a single political party may not constitute more than two-fifths of the membership.

Since the election, the commission has been a center of political and public attention due to the large number of ballots that were declared invalid, which has led to the pan-blue camp's call for an administrative recount. Huang has said that only with a judicial order could an administrative recount take place. After the commission's announcement of the winner of the election on Friday, four commissioners -- Lee Tzu-yuan (李祖源), Tsai Cheng-wen (蔡政文), Lai Hao-min (賴浩敏) and Wu Feng-shan (吳豐山) -- submitted resignation letters to Huang.

It is believed by some that these resignations were due to the pressure which the commission had been put under during the election.

Before the election, Huang had made approving comments about South Korea's electoral organization.

"In South Korea, the electoral organization is above the presidential level. By simply asking voters to cast their ballots for his political party, President Roh Moo-hyun was alleged to have violated the election law by the country's electoral organization. It was an example of how independent and impartial an electoral organization can be," Huang said in a television interview prior to the March 20 election.

Huang stated that Taiwan's election commission was nominated by the Executive Yuan and appointed by the president and political appointees can hardly remain neutral during elections.

"On the other hand, during elections in South Korea, the president and heads of all government offices have to take a neutral stance, and are barred from campaigning for their political parties. However, in Taiwan, never has any head of state remained neutral during any election, let alone urged politically appointed officials to do the same," Huang said.
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