The presidential and legislative elections once again underscored that the nation’s democracy is the envy of many countries in the region, but the polls also exposed some problems, including media bias, a regional election watchdog group said.
After closely observing the electoral process in the run up to Saturday’s polls, representatives of the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) said voting went smoothly.
With a turnout close to 75 percent, a considerable majority of Taiwan’s voters were able to exercise their rights, the group said.
At a post-election press conference to announce their observations, ANFREL delegates gave credit to Taiwanese for the peaceful and open nature of the campaign period, the competent management of polling stations on election day and the high voter turnout.
The turnout revealed that Taiwanese believe two important things — that their vote will be accurately counted and that exercising their right to choose their own government is important, the group said.
“Both are positive indicators for Taiwan’s democracy,” the group said.
The losing Democratic Progressive Party should be commended for conceding its election defeat in a timely manner, which is consistent with a mature democracy, the group said.
However, despite the success, there were many complaints and acknowledgments from local residents that vote buying remained a problem in some areas, the group said.
The alleged vote buying often took the more indirect and sophisticated form of in-kind vote buying, such as trips or dinners being used to curry favor with voters, the network said.
ANFREL also expressed concern about campaign finance expenditures.
“Uneven resources can result in an unhealthy democratic culture and an uneven playing field that harms the election’s fairness,” it said.
The group suggested that the Central Election Commission (CEC) and other government oversight bodies should ensure a more even playing field by strengthening campaign finance laws.
In addition, the media environment was commendably open and free, but was often regrettably compromised and partisan. Such media bias was witnessed on both sides of the political divide, it said.
According to the ANFREL, the media must take their role as journalists more seriously, and the public and the Taipei-based Civil Congress Watch, which invited the ANFREL delegation to Taiwan, must demand more from the media.
“A stable, mature democracy needs an independent media, without which Taiwan’s democracy will suffer and the political polarization evident in some areas will grow,” it said.
The ANFREL delegation had members from countries including Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia. During their visit which began on Jan. 6 and ended on Monday, the delegates visited the CEC, the candidates’ campaign headquarters and observed the actual electoral process in Taipei, Chiayi and Yunlin.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS