Tue, Jun 20, 2006 page3

• Legislators find common ground in blasting CEC

  • By Shih Hsiu-chuan / STAFF REPORTER
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  In a rare moment of cross-party cooperation, legislators across party lines yesterday lashed out at the chairman of the Central Election Committee (CEC) after he weighed in on when a new legislative redistricting plan should take effect.

  CEC Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) said that if a no-confidence vote toppled the Cabinet and the president then decided to dissolve the legislature and hold snap elections, new legislative districts drawn up by the CEC should be used in that election -- even if the plan had not received legislative approval.

  "If the redistricting plan for the [next] legislative election fails to pass during the current legislative term, the next legislative election should be conducted in accordance with the plan the CEC drafted," Chang said yesterday when briefing legislators on the plan.

  Under constitutional amendments passed last June, the number of legislative seats will be halved to 113 from the current 225 seats, and a "single member, two vote" district electoral system will be implemented to replace multiple-member districts.

  At least half of the legislature will lose their seats under the new system, and lawmakers from small parties are considered especially vulnerable.

  Lawmakers demanded that the CEC file a request for a constitutional interpretation about the matter.

  The CEC-drafted redistricting plan for the next legislative election was put onto the special session's agenda in light of the pan-blue camp's plan to hold a no-confidence vote in the premier in the next legislative session, if the president does not resign before then. The next session begins on Sept. 19.

  In accordance with the Constitution, the president can choose to dissolve the legislature if a no-confidence vote ousts the premier.

  Chang said the election would have to be conducted under a new format in keeping with the constitutional amendments passed by the now-defunct National Assembly last June.

  But legislators who favor the current system disagreed with Chang.

  "Before the new [redistricting] system is enacted [by the legislature], surely the current system should remain effective," People First Party (PFP) Legislator Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國) said.

  The plan yesterday passed its preliminary review in the legislature's Home and Nations Committee, which concluded that the CEC must file a request for a constitutional interpretation on the dispute.

  "The committee decided that the CEC has no authority to decide whether a new system or the current system should be used [in the event of snap elections]. The CEC must form a special task force to deal with possible scenarios in the aftermath of the Cabinet's dissolution," said PFP Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), a co-chair of the committee.
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