The Central Election Commission (CEC) will today turn down a plea by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to reverse its decision to hold separate legislative and presidential elections next year, an anonymous Ministry of the Interior source told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Unnecessary
The source said that 14 of the 17 CEC members had contacted the election body in reply to the KMT's plea, saying that convening another meeting to discuss the matter would be unnecessary.
The KMT's plea had the backing of only two commission members, Liu Kuang-hua (
Separate
The CEC decided on July 6 that the presidential election would be held on March 22, separate from the legislative election, which it earlier decided would be held on Jan. 12.
But the KMT decided during its Central Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday to ask the CEC to combine the two elections to help save money and avoid inconvenience.
The KMT's request surprised CEC Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄), who said that the party had expressed no preference on the matter when the CEC solicited opinions from political parties before making its original decision on July 6.
"We asked all parties whether they supported the presidential election being held along with the legislative elections on Jan. 12, but the KMT didn't give us an answer," Chang said.
He added that the KMT instead asked the CEC a question: "Why didn't you consult us when you decided the date of the legislative election?"
No preference
Chang said that the CEC therefore assumed that the KMT did not have a preference.
He said that the Democratic Progressive Party replied that it would respect the CEC's decision, and the People First Party, Taiwan Solidarity Union and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union all said that they were against combined elections.
New president
Chang added that reversing the previous decisions on the dates for holding the legislative and presidential elections could also be difficult because even if a new president is elected in January, the president-elect will not assume the presidency until May 20 even if the incumbent president is unable to fulfill his duties for some reason.
Noting that the current term of the president will expire in May, Chang said that holding the presidential election four months before the end of the incumbent president's term will not be beneficial in terms of political stability.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it