The new Tainan municipality to be formed late this year from the merger of Tainan City and Tainan County will have a total of six seats in the next Legislative Yuan, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said on Friday.
The number marks an increase of one seat from the combined present total for the two areas.
KAOHSIUNG
In contrast, the number of legislative seats for the merged municipality incorporating Kaohsiung City and County will fall from the combined total of nine to eight.
The number of legislative seats for two other special municipalities to be created late this year — the upgraded Taipei County, which will be called Sinbei City (新北市), and the merged municipality of Taichung City and County — will remain unchanged at 12 and eight respectively.
The commission met on Friday to address the allocation of legislative seats to various constituencies around the country.
The term of the seventh legislature will expire in January 2012.
The country’s election law stipulates that any changes to legislative constituencies must be approved by the legislature and promulgated 20 months before the expiration of a legislative term in order for the changes to be valid in the next polls.
DEADLINE
As four new special municipalities will be formed at the end of this year through upgrades or mergers of existing cities and counties, the CEC must secure legislative approval for its proposal concerning changes to the number of legislative seats and electoral districting in those regions before May 31.
The seat allocation passed by the commission on Friday was based on population information from the end of November.
CEC officials said 10 cities and counties did not need a review of their constituencies — including Hsinchu County, Yilan County and Hsinchu City — because they have only one legislative seat each.
Municipalities, cities and counties that have two or more legislative seats and hope to make changes to districting are required to apply to the CEC for approval.
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