Premier Frank Hsieh (
"To combine the three elections -- county commissioners and city mayors, county councilors and township wardens -- not only helped save a lot of money but also helped encourage more people to vote," Hsieh said.
He made his remarks during the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning. During the meeting, the Central Election Commission and the Ministry of Justice provided details and statistics from the Dec. 3 elections and it was obvious that the figures pleased the premier a lot.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
For the county commissioners and city mayors' election, the voting rate was 66.22 percent, compared with 66.45 percent four years ago. For the county councilors' election, it was 66.25 percent, against 55.59 percent four years ago. For the township wardens' election, the rate was 67.04 percent this year, as against 57.07 percent four years ago.
"All these figures showed that more people came to polling stations, as we made the elections easier and more convenient for them. This is a good thing," the premier said.
As for the savings of NT$280 million, the premier said that the amount was higher than expected and it came as a result of the Cabinet taking steps to save money from the elections.
However, the premier said that there is still room for the justice ministry to make progress.
Hsieh complained that some lawmakers have approached certain prosecutors and tried to interfere with their investigations into alleged bribery cases.
"I think the justice ministry is responsible for training its prosecutors on how to keep a proper distance from politicians under investigation and how to stay neutral at all times," Hsieh said.
He was not satisfied, however, with the "NT$30 standard" set down for law-enforcement officers when cracking down on alleged bribery cases and he asked ministry officials to discuss the issue.
The "NT$30 standard" was established by former minister of justice Chen Ding-nan (
He said that any giveaway by election candidates that is worth more than NT$30 will be regarded as bribery.
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