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Local election heads replaced

Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan, left, gives a present to KMT legislative candidate John Chiang in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES

After replacing two local election commission heads for breaches of regulations on the voting system to be used in the Jan. 12 legislative elections, Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) said yesterday the controversy over the voting format had come to an end.

"We hope the election will proceed smoothly and will not replace more local election commission heads," Chiou said.

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) approved requests by the Central Election Commission (CEC) to replace Taipei City Election Commission Chairman Samuel Wu (吳秀光) and Taichung City Election Commission Chairman Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家旗).

Executive Yuan spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) said Wu and Hsiao were replaced as irregularities had been found with their preparatory work for the election and they had failed to reassure the CEC by Monday that they would adopt the one-step voting format.

Chang on Monday also approved a request by the CEC to replace Taipei County Election Commissioner Teng Min-chih (鄧民治), but the premier decided yesterday to "defer" the decision.

The reverse came as Teng filed a complaint about his replacement, in which he said that his commission had decided to use one-step voting during a meeting on Monday morning and informed the CEC at 5:09pm via e-mail.

Shieh said the Executive Yuan did not receive the document, but accepted Teng's explanation.

The Central News Agency (CNA) has reported Teng as saying that the reversal of his replacement was a "correct" decision.

Regarding Hsiao, Shieh said that only when the former had informed the CEC via a formal electronic document would the Executive Yuan reconsider his replacement.

Hsiao told CNA he would inform the CEC of the decision his commission made on Monday afternoon, to the effect that it would use one-step voting.

"We were planning to let the CEC know [on Wednesday] because [Tuesday] was a national holiday," Hsiao said.

Wu made a concession yesterday by leaving the city commission meeting halfway and allowing commission members to pass the CEC's compromised voting system.

Acting chairman Tsai Tien-chi (蔡天啟) hosted the meeting and said that Taipei would adopt the CEC version, which allows voters to use two-step voting as long as the tables and voting boxes at polling stations are placed in accordance with the one-step voting format.

Wu, who refused to step down as chairman and insisted on adopting the two-step voting procedure, said he made the concession to ensure the elections would run smoothly.

After a two-hour meeting, Tsai said commission members had reached a consensus on following the CEC voting procedure, while agreeing to ask the CEC to explain the source of the laws regarding the legitimacy of Wu's replacement order.

Deputy commissioner Jason Yeh (葉傑生) said some members raised concerns over Wu's replacement and that the commission had agreed to ask the CEC to invite Wu to return to his post after the election.

Meanwhile, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday lambasted the CEC for failing to ensure the neutrality of the elections.

Describing the CEC as "a joke," Lien urged voters to boycott the referendums.

"The governing party used the referendums to cause chaos in the election. I call on voters to take only two ballots and ignore the referendum ballots," he said after campaigning for KMT Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) in Taipei.

KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) joined Lien in condemning the CEC and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, sharing his worries about "dirty tricks" the DPP could employ during the election.

KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) told a press conference yesterday that many pro-independence radio stations were known to have "cooperated" with the DPP to mislead their audiences into believing that people who fail to collect their referendum ballots would be fined or imprisoned.

"Many people said they were afraid of being fined or jailed, so they had no choice but to claim their referendum ballots ... Did [the DPP] really have to play dirty tricks like this during the campaign?" she said, without presenting evidence.

At a separate setting, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday criticized the KMT's decision to boycott the two referendums, saying their behavior was no different from Beijing's opposition to the holding of referendums.

"They can boycott the referendum ballots today and could reject the right of Taiwanese to hold elections tomorrow," Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓), director of the DPP's Culture and Information Department, quoted Chen as saying after the DPP's Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday.

The DPP caucus yesterday requested that the CEC ask for compensation from the KMT for the boycotting of the referendums.

"Their ridiculous policy wasted everybody's money," DPP caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) said.

Wang said the CEC spent NT$240 million (US$7.5 million) reviewing the KMT petitions for its proposed referendum and preparing for the vote.

Additional reporting by Flora Wang, Ko Shu-ling,

Mo Yan-chih and Jimmy Chuan
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