Cabinet supports proposal for simultaneous elections

The Cabinet supports a proposal to hold the next legislative and presidential elections simultaneously, spokeswoman Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) said yesterday.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Monday said that the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan and the DPP share a consensus that the next presidential and legislative elections as well as referendums on major issues should be held at the same time to lessen "financial and social costs."

Echoing Lin's statement, Chen said Taiwan would be better off if it merged certain elections.

"We really have too many elections," she said, but added that it was up to the Central Election Commission (CEC) to determine when the next elections would be held.

Under the law, the election for the next legislature must be set six months before the present legislative term expires on Jan. 31 next year.

"This means that we can wait until July to work out a schedule for the next legislative elections," she said, adding that as the term for the CEC commissioners expires on June 16, it would be the job of the next group of CEC commissioners to choose the date.

Meanwhile, CEC spokesman Teng Tien-you (鄧天祐) said the Cabinet opinion on the schedule for the upcoming elections could be conveyed to the CEC commissioners for reference.

While the government and the DPP support the idea of holding the next presidential and legislative elections simultaneously, Teng said, the CEC should also respect other opinions.

"Therefore, it will be left to the next [members of the] Central Election Commission ... to decide whether the two elections will be held on the same day," he said.

The president's term expires on May 20 next year. The presidential election is scheduled for next March.