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Shieh backs plan to seek council ruling on electoral system

Executive Yuan Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) yesterday expressed approval at a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) proposal to request a constitutional interpretation on the new legislative election system, which was implemented for the first time in the Jan. 12 legislative elections.

"The DPP has a duty to file such a request because it knows the system is unfair. Seeking a constitutional interpretation on the system is not to benefit any particular party. It is to build a level playing field," Hsieh said when asked by reporters for comments.

The DPP caucus is expected to collect the signatures required to make the request to the Council of Grand Justices tomorrow. The DPP says the system may be a violation of Article 129 of the Constitution, which says that elections should be held by secret ballot and requires "universal, equal and direct suffrage."

Under the new system, voters select 73 district legislators in as many districts.

The DPP caucus said the way regional seats were allotted had resulted in "voting inequality" in violation of Article 129.

The DPP suffered a major loss in the Jan. 12 legislative elections, grabbing only 13 of the 73 district seats and secured 38.17 percent of the vote.

Its main rival, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), won 57 seats.

Some analysts have said the new system is skewed against pan-green candidates because the district borders are drawn such that they favor the pan-blue camp.

"Taiwan has never experimented with single-member districts before. The result of the trial proved that `voting inequality' was a problem and that the system favors a single big party that is wealthy and has local personnel connections," Shieh said.

Shieh said the KMT must be aware of the problem, because it secured nearly a three-quarter majority in the legislature although it won only 53.5 percent of the vote.

The new system was passed in the legislature in August 2004 with the support of the KMT and DPP.
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