The outgoing chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday expressed concern whether new commission members would be able to maintain their impartiality and questioned the government’s motivation in appointing a new panel with the year-end elections just a month away.
Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) made the remarks during the handover to his successor, Lai Hao-min (賴浩敏).
Along with Lai, 10 other commission members also took office yesterday.
All 11 CEC members nominated by the Cabinet passed the legislative review on Tuesday afternoon, and their appointment followed in the evening.
However, the outgoing chairman said he was worried that the commission might not hear opposing voices because three of its 11 members are affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), eight have no party affiliation and none represents the opposition.
“If the CEC is controlled by the party in power and the opposition is not represented, the impartiality of electoral affairs may be affected,” Chang said. “The opposition had never been absent in the CEC before.”
He also questioned the government's intention in appointing a new commission right before the local elections on Dec. 5.
Chang said the term of the outgoing commission members does not end until next June, and “based on the law, the Cabinet is to nominate new members three months before CEC members’ term expires, which would be next March.”
By doing so, the government was compromising the CEC's legitimacy and may give rise to doubts as to why the government is so eager to reorganize the nation's top electoral authority right before the elections, Chang said. He said he handed over the chairmanship only to show his respect for the system of government.
“Wu said that reappointing commission members is to make the CEC more trustworthy, but I think what he did is just the opposite,” Chang said, referring to Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義).
Despite Chang’s criticism, the new chairman said he expected his newly sworn-in colleagues to work independently and think beyond party interests.
“I hope that you [the new members] understand that resisting political pressure is very important and urge all influential political entities to stay out of the CEC's operation,” Lai said.
He said that rooting out election irregularities would be a priority for the CEC under his leadership.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS