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New voting system could squeeze out small parties

The new "single-member district, two-vote system" to be used in the Jan. 22 legislative elections will squeeze out small political parties and have other negative effects, representatives of the nation's two major political parties said on Friday.

The warning came at a seminar organized by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy to discuss the new legislative electoral system and the future of the legislature.

Under the new electoral system, one vote will go to a legislative candidate and the other to a party.

The number of legislative seats, meanwhile, has also been halved from 225 to 113.

Lai Su-ju (賴素如), director of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) public relations department, said at the seminar that the new system would make a legislator's electoral district smaller than that of a city councilor.

This would result in future legislators focusing solely on how to satisfy voters rather than on reviewing bills and supervising the government, she said.

By serving their constituents, legislators would very likely secure their votes, which would diminish the chances of new members being elected to the legislature, Lai said.

To address what she described as a negative impact on democracy, Lai proposed a limit on legislative terms.

Under the new electoral system, she said, it would be easy for those nominated by major political parties to be elected, which would reduce opportunities for diverse voices.

She also expressed concern over whether only a few legislators would be able to control the screening process of legislative bills.

She said that newly elected legislators next year will have a greater influence in the presidential election and thus gain greater leverage with their parties.

As a result, unlike legislators at large, these legislators will not need to follow the party line on every issue and will have greater autonomy, she said.

Echoing Lai, Chang Yu-feng (張毓芬), director of the Democratic Progressive Party's public survey center, said that small parties will find it difficult to survive under the new electoral system.

Only those that are very well-known or that can win support from voters will get elected next year, Chang said.

If small parties want to win legislative seats next year, she said, they will need to work hard to raise their profile.

Chang said that the halving of legislative seats also poses a challenge to political parties, as many incumbent legislators who fail to be nominated by their own parties as regional legislative candidates have decided to run independently.

These legislators, who have won many terms in the past, have refused to follow party rules, adding uncertainty to the outcome of the legislative elections, Chang said.
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