The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus proposal to hold next year's legislative election and the 2008 presidential election at the same time was rejected by the head of the Central Election Commission yesterday.
Under the KMT's proposal, the "two-in-one election" would be held on Jan. 19, 2008, meaning that the legislative election, currently scheduled for December, would be postponed and the presidential election, currently scheduled for late March 2008, would be brought forward.
"If we agreed to such an arrangement, the new president would have to wait for four months before taking office on May 20, 2008, which is inconsistent with the regulations stipulated in the Constitution and the nation's laws," commission chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (
"In accordance with the Constitution and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Law (
Chang made the remarks during a briefing to the legislature's Organic Laws and Statutes Committee yesterday.
Chang's stance on the issue angered KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (
Wu said the regulations that Chang had cited applied to situations in which the position of president or vice president had become vacant.
In response, Chang said he made the remarks based on a written report prepared by commission staff members, noting that he would review the matter again.
He maintained, however, that the KMT's election proposal was unworkable.
"While the commission's members have the final say on the proposal, there is not one of them that disagrees with me," he said.
Citing examples from other countries, Chang said that the interval between the election date and presidential inauguration in the US was less than 80 days. The interval was about one to two months in most countries, he said, with the longest interval being three months and 20 days in Peru.
Members of the KMT insisted that their proposal should not be rejected out of hand.
"Since there are no current regulations either in the Constitution or in the nation's laws that stipulate when the presidential election should be held, the commission should not dismiss the KMT's proposal," KMT Legislator John Wu (
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